KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs have the best record in the N.F.L. in the past five seasons, winning 64 games.
Yet for all that winning, the Cincinnati Bengals had proved to be Kansas City’s kryptonite. The Bengals had beaten the Chiefs three times in a row, including in last year’s A.F.C. championship game.
The teams met again on Sunday in a rematch that would determine who would face the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl on Feb. 12 in Glendale, Ariz. And just as they had done the previous three times, the Bengals appeared on the verge of upsetting the Chiefs yet again.