The Kansas City Chiefs moved to within one game of becoming the first team to win three successive Super Bowls with a 32-29 win over the Buffalo Bills.
The Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers (twice), San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos and New England Patriots were the other organisations to win two straight Super Bowls.
The Chiefs became the first side to return to the season's finale for a shot at a third straight title and will face the Philadelphia Eagles, who beat the Washington Commanders 55-23, in Super Bowl LIX.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for 245 yards and a touchdown in a close AFC Championship game, adding two more rushing scores.
The teams traded touchdowns, Buffalo tying it up when Josh Allen found Curtis Samuel from four yards with more than six minutes remaining.
Mahomes set up Harrison Butker’s field goal with just over three-and-a-half minutes on the clock to put the Chiefs ahead.
Allen came up short on the fourth down, his long throw narrowly missing Dalton Kincaid, and the Chiefs were able to see out the clock.
Allen threw for 237 yards and two scores for Buffalo. James Cook ran for 85 yards and two touchdowns of his own.
It was the fourth time since 2020 that the Chiefs ended the Bills’ season in the post-season.
"To be the champs, you've got to beat the champs," Allen said. "And we didn't do that tonight."
"You can either get it done, or you can't, and we didn't get it done."
There were a number of controversial calls during the game, not least the decision that Allen had failed to reach the marker on a quarterback sneak early in the fourth quarter when Buffalo were ahead by a point.
"The look we had in the stadium… I thought he had it," Bills head coach Sean McDermott. "Just inside that white stripe [40-yard-line] was the first down. It looked like he got to it. That's all I can say.
""It's not the result we wanted. I told them they had nothing to be ashamed of. They gave it all they had."
The Chiefs will head to New Orleans for a meeting with the Eagles, who they beat in the Super Bowl two years ago.
"Literally a game of inches today," said their head coach Andy Reid. "We were lucky to be on that side of it today. We had the most inches."
Mahomes added: "I'm excited to get down to New Orleans. Let's go make history.
"It's not about one guy, it's not about a couple guys, it's about the entire team.
"When we needed the defense to get stops, they got stops. The offense, we made plays. That's why we're so special because it's a team effort and a team football game."
Additional reporting: Reuters
