Where will the AFC Championship Game be played? [UPDATED]

The Kansas City Chiefs are going back to the AFC Championship Game once again.

For the fifth straight season, the Kansas City Chiefs will play in the AFC Championship Game.

This has been the case ever since Patrick Mahomes took over the offense from Alex Smith. Though the pathway to the Super Bowl out of the AFC has largely run through Arrowhead Stadium of late, it may take a different path next weekend. This all depends on the outcome of the other AFC Divisional Round game being played between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals.

The conference title bout will either be played at Arrowhead or Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Where will the 2022 AFC Championship Game be played at?

With the Bengals prevailing in Buffalo on Sunday afternoon in a snowy Highmark Stadium, the Chiefs will host the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

Even though the Chiefs got the first-round bye as the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoff picture, they would’ve had to play a neutral-site championship game next week if the Bills held serve and beat the Bengals in Buffalo. This was because the Bills at Bengals Monday night game was canceled. Buffalo finished half a game back of the Chiefs in the AFC standings, despite having beaten them.

Had the Bills beat the Bengals in Cincinnati a few weeks back, Buffalo and Kansas City would have had identical 14-3 records at regular-season’s end. Since the Bills held the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Chiefs, they would have had the No. 1 seed instead of Kansas City. This is why the NFL made sure the potential conference title bout would be played at a neutral-site location.

Of course, this is a moot point after the Bengals upset the Bills in Orchard Park. Unfortunately, the Bengals seem to have the Chiefs’ number dating back to last season. Joe Burrow and the boys are still the reigning AFC Champions heading into Sunday…