![Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (left) greets Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku (right) after an NFL divisional round football game, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, in Kansas City. Kelce is a Cleveland Heights native who often touts his Heights High Tiger pride in player intros. The Chiefs won 22-17. [Jeff Roberson / AP]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/17de23e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1000x667+0+0/resize/840x560!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F1%2F17%2FBrowns%20versus%20Chiefs.jpg)
The Cleveland Browns lost to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, in a game that had both Chiefs and Browns fans on edge.
Before the game, some believed it would take either a Browns miracle or a Chiefs disaster to win against last year’s Super Bowl champions.
And disaster did come for the Chiefs in the form of a concussion for their star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. A tackle late in the third quarter took him out for the rest of the game, which many Browns fans saw as a chance to take the lead.
A Browns fans hopes Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is ok. [@gatchcity / Twitter]
The Browns scored a touchdown to bring the game to within 5 points. They then intercepted the Chiefs to give Browns fans just enough hope of an AFC championship, only for those hopes to come crashing down.
The Browns failed to score, and the Chiefs ran down the clock to a final score of 22-17.
Making it to the divisional round of the playoffs was an accomplishment for the Browns, with many analysts assuming the Pittsburgh Steelers would easily win in the wild card round, last week. But the Browns surprised even their most loyal fans, beating the Steelers 48-37, despite not having Head Coach Kevin Stefanski due to a positive COVID test.
The win against the Steelers was the first playoffs win for the team in decades, and many fans posted on social media that they were happy the Browns had come this far.
“This is a talented Browns team and I’m proud of how far the guys made it despite COVID and the competition we had to face,” one fan @jvgorder tweeted.
Many fans looked to next season.
There's always another season for loyal Browns fans. [@danieled209 / Twitter]
“Browns on the rise,” tweeted Browns fan Dan Hanzus.
“Bring on next season,” tweeted another fan, Daniel Edwards.
Twitter user "Bob in Broadview" tweeted a picture of a shotglass with the caption “Here’s to 2021 Browns season, cheers!”
![780539278_1246506497[1].jpg](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f3384a7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/980x546+0+3/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F1%2F10%2F780539278_1246506497%5B1%5D.jpg)