FOXBORO -- Arrowhead Stadium, one of the loudest and toughest places for a visiting team to leave with a win, will be the site of Sunday's AFC Championship Game matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots.
The Chiefs are hosting their first AFC title game in franchise history, and a win would end their painful Super Bowl appearance drought that's nearly 50 years long. So, even with the arctic blast expected to drop the Kansas City temperatures into the single digits, the crowd is going to be one of the most raucous the Patriots have seen all season.
This fact is not lost on Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski.
“We know it’s going to be loud," Gronkowski said Thursday. "We know the atmosphere is going to be hyped. It always is, every time we go there.”
The last time the Patriots played at Arrowhead Stadium was Week 4 of the 2014 season when the Chiefs dominated for a 41-14 victory. A lot of the players on that Patriots team are no longer in New England, so as someone with experience playing in that environment, Gronkowski could be one of the guys who sets the tone Sunday.
"Last week at our stadium, you just knew it was buzzing right from the beginning," Gronkowski said. "It's going to be the same out at Arrowhead Stadium. It's going to be popping 30 minutes, 60 minutes probably, prior to kickoff. Right at kickoff, you know it's going to be a playoff atmosphere there. Been there in the regular season, it felt like a playoff atmosphere. I just can't imagine what it's going to be like going in a stadium like this."
The Chiefs have made Arrowhead Stadium a fortress in recent seasons. They went 7-1 there during the regular season and haven't finished worse than 6-2 at home since 2013. They protected home field in the AFC Divisional Round with a convincing 31-13 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, but Sunday's conference championship game should be much more competitive given the experience and talent on both sidelines.
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"It's always a heavyweight fight going (against) the Chiefs, no matter when it is, regular season or playoffs," Gronkowski said. "It's just going to be that big and that tough of a matchup again. The stakes are high -- to go to the Super Bowl. Both teams, we're going to be going at it. It should be a good battle."
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