The New England Patriots made the AFC Championship Game their annual invitational with 13 appearances since 2001.
That’s far from the case now with the Patriots winning just eight games over the last two seasons. They’ve made the playoffs just once since 2020 and last won a postseason game in Super Bowl LIII after the 2018 season.
This year’s installment welcomes the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs. The teams meet in the title game for the second time since 2020 and for the fourth time in the postseason in that span. Kansas City has the 3-0 advantage so far while Buffalo has four straight regular-season wins over their new-school AFC rival.