LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The Louisville Kings didn't need Sunday's game.
They already had a playoff berth, and a destination.
Before kickoff in Columbus, they already knew they would be traveling to St. Louis this Sunday for a 6 p.m. UFL semifinal against the Battlehawks.
The standings couldn't improve. The path couldn't change.
The only thing left to learn was whether the Kings would treat the regular-season finale like a team satisfied to be in the playoffs or a team determined to do something once it got there.
The answer arrived quickly. A pick-six on the first play from scrimmage. Forty-two points. More than 200 rushing yards. And a fourth straight victory in a 42-27 win over Columbus.
This was less about earning a playoff spot than reminding people why they have one.
It was a heady moment for an expansion franchise that lost its first three games. Back then, it was a team trying to find itself. The offense lacked consistency. The quarterback situation was unsettled. The roster was still evolving.
Then came a series of difficult choices. Jason Bean was traded. Former Kentucky and NFL running back Benny Snell was released. Chandler Rogers took control of the offense.
Little by little, the Kings stopped looking like a collection of players and started looking like a football team.
Now they look like one of the most dangerous teams in the league.
"We're pretty hot right now," Redman said after Sunday's victory. "We're going to try to ride this momentum as long as we can. … I’m just really proud of these guys for the season they had and what we've overcome, starting the way we did at 0-3 to where we're at right now. A lot of confidence, these guys really came together. I mean, give them all the all the credit"
Louisville enters the postseason having won four straight games, scoring at least 30 points in each. They've become one of the league's best turnover-producing defenses. And they've developed a running game that can wear teams down over four quarters.
On Sunday, that running game produced another 205 yards despite Louisville pulling back on some of its key pieces. Quarterback Chandler Rogers played briefly before giving way to N'Kosi Perry and Mike DiLiello. The offense never missed a beat.
That may have been the most encouraging sign of all.
For much of the spring, Louisville's success felt tied to a handful of key players. Now it feels tied to more durable factors – depth, chemistry, confidence.
One week after posting more than 130 yards in penalties the Kings cleaned it up on Sunday and weren’t flagged until late in the contest. Redman says that, and eliminating turnovers, have been major points of emphasis late in the season.
At Columbus, the focus showed when the starters left, and guys like Jaden Shirden came on in the fourth quarter to run for a pair of touchdowns. Ian Wheeler carried 14 times for 99 yards – including a 61-yarder, Louisville’s longest play from scrimmage this season – before giving way.
"It doesn't matter who's out there playing," Redman said. "These guys are all rallying together."
That showed up Sunday. A game that could have felt meaningless never looked that way. The Kings played with urgency. The backups played with energy. The running backs played as if jobs were still on the line. Nobody looked interested in simply getting to next week.
That's important because next week isn't just another game.
It's St. Louis.
The Battlehawks are the only team to beat Louisville during this late-season surge. Now Louisville gets another shot, with the season on the line.
The Kings arrive as something more than just a feel-good expansion story. They arrive as a team that started 0-3, reinvented themselves on the fly and won six of their final seven games.
Along the way, they transformed from a team trying to save its season into a team trying to finish it.
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