The results of last year’s AFC Championship Game against the Cincinnati Bengals still weigh heavily on the mind of Kansas City Chiefs FB Mike Burton.
The furthest Burton had advanced in the playoffs prior to last season in Kansas City was a trip to the divisional round with the New Orleans Saints in 2020. They’d be eliminated by the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Reaching the AFC title game in 2021 with Kansas City, Burton was close to achieving a dream that every NFL enters the league with — to get a chance to compete in a Super Bowl.
“Man, being a game away from the Super Bowl. . . it’s part of that journey,” Burton said. “The dream is the Super Bowl, right? And you were so close to getting there. It just gives you more motivation. Right when the season ended, it’s all you’re thinking about, ‘What do I have to do to get back to that game?’ So, you want to get back to work. You’re highly motivated to make sure, not only that you get back to (the AFC championship) game, but you finish the game in order to get to the Super Bowl.”
