KANSAS CITY, MO — Several local Cincinnati Bengals fans are making the trip from the Miami Valley to Kansas City, Missouri, for Sunday night’s AFC Championship game between the Bengals and Chiefs.
>>Photos: Several local Bengals fans making trip for Sunday’s game at Kansas City
News Center 7′s Brandon Lewis spoke with some fans Thursday as some will be traveling west on Interstate 70 to cheer the Stripes at Arrowhead Stadium.
“You can’t make memories like this,” said Mark Houseman of Springfield. “I’m going to be there! Whether I got to work five jobs, I’m going to be there.”
He tells Lewis he got a second chance at life in 2014 and is living it to the fullest.
“I was in a coma, got read last rites in 2014,” said Houseman. “Any chance I got like this to live the day to its fullest, I’m going to be there.”
>>News Center 7′s Brandon Lewis is with Bengals to cover AFC Championship game in Kansas City
He will be staying with a group of Bengals fans at an AIRBNB, with some coming from Pittsburgh and as far away as Lubbock, Texas.
“We are traveling so deep right now,” Houseman said. He says it’s also because Bengals fans have waited so long and are so proud and happy.
“We got a team we can believe in,” he said. “Why not continue to follow this run while I can?”
Who’s going to win Sunday?
“I would say Bengals 31, Kansas City 24,” Houseman told Lewis.
>>PHOTOS: Bengals play Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City
Tipp City resident David Peeples will be going to the game with a friend.
“I’ve been a Bengals fan for as long as I can remember,” he said. “It has been up, it has been down.”
He remembers rooting for the team during the down years when they were 2-14 and losing in the playoffs to the Steelers.
Peeples told Lewis the last two years have been “just amazing.”
“Absolutely amazing,” he said. “The ability to go to games and going to the AFC Championship is right now, like me going to the Super Bowl. It’s going to be amazing.”
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Peeples and his friend plan to drive to Kansas City on Saturday. And while he thinks the Bengals will win, he does think the team should be concerned about the Chiefs.
“The Chiefs are going into this game with chip on their shoulder,” said Peeples. “Absolutely.”
Kansas City has lost twice in the regular to the Bengals in Cincinnati, once on Jan. 2, 2022 and on Dec. 4. 2022. They also lost last year’s AFC Championship Game on Jan. 30.
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News Center 7 will have coverage of the Bengals and Chiefs leading up to kickoff. This includes the Orange Zone on Sunday morning, Jan. 29, at 11:30 a.m. with John Bedell and Larry Hansgen.
Lewis will provide live coverage from Kansas City.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
The winner advances to Super Bowl XLVII to play either San Francisco or Philadelphia on Feb. 12 in Glendale, Arizona.
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