When the Kansas City Chiefs take the field on Sunday at the New Orleans Superdome, now called Caesar’s Superdome, for the kickoff of Super Bowl 59, they will be aiming to achieve something no other NFL team has ever accomplished since the first Super Bowl that capped off the 1966 season. For that matter, it is something only one other NFL team has accomplished in any era. They will be going for their third consecutive NFL champioship.
While the three-peat has never been done in the Super Bowl era, the Green Bay Packers won three straight titles from 1929 to 1931. Of course, in those days, there was no Super Bowl. There weren’t even playoffs, conferences or divisions. There was one league with 12 teams â actually 10 in 1931 after two folded â and whichever team finished with the best record was crowned NFL champion.
A Win Gives Chiefs 5 Titles Ever, Still 1 Short of Patriots
The New England Patriots hold the NFL record with six Super Bowl trophies. They came tantalizingly close to a three-peat, winning Super Bowls in 2017 (to end the 2016 season) and then again in 2019. But when they faced the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 52 on February 4th, 2018, they came up short, losing 44-33.
Even if they accomplish their three-peat Super Bowl run on Sunday, the Chiefs still have a considerable distance to go before they match the Patriots dynasty.
If they defeat the Eagles in Super Bowl 59, the win will give the Kansas City franchise the fifth trophy in its history. But Kansas City had an extremely long drought. Their first Super Bowl win cannot be considered part of their current “dynasty.”
The Chiefs won Super Bowl 4 on January 11, 1970. The Chiefs also appeared in Super Bowl 2, losing to the Packers coached by the legendary Vince Lombardi. When Lombardi died in 1970, the NFL renamed the Super Bowl trophy the “Lombardi Trophy,” the name it has borne since 1971.
The franchise also won an American Football League championship in 1962, the third year of the AFL’s existence. But they were located in Dallas then, and played under the name Dallas Texans. So that one doesn’t count.
In the Super Bowl era, however, the Patriots still own six titles, meaning that even if the Chiefs win on Sunday, they will need to win one more just to tie with New England for most Lombardi Trophies.
In Championship Games, Patriots Dominance Unequalled
But when it comes to dynasties, there are other factors besides Super Bowl wins. When it comes to consistent greatness, the Patriots remain well ahead. Starting with the 2001 season, the Patriots have appeared in 13 AFC Championship games, winning nine of them. The Chiefs in their entire 65-year existence have played in 10 conference championship games, and failed to reach that game between 1993 and 2018.
In that 2018 AFC Championship game, the Chiefs led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes faced off against the Patriots and then-41-year-old quarterback Tom Brady. The game was an instant classic, heading to overtime after a wild fourth quarter that saw the lead switch four times before Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker hit a field goal with 11 seconds on the clock.
But in the overtime period, the Chiefs never had possession of the ball and could only watch as Brady led a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to win it and send the Patriots to the Super Bowl for what proved to be the last time in what will remain, no matter the result on Sunday, the greatest dynasty in NFL history. At least for now.
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