NFL dynasties start somewhere. We look back at five to see if Chiefs can join them.
One Super Bowl victory doesn’t make a dynasty. But a championship won by a 24-year-old quarterback in Patrick Mahomes, who was the game’s MVP, authored by one of the NFL’s most victorious coaches in Andy Reid and claimed by an organization that entered the game with track record of recent success give the Chiefs a valid starting point.
Besides, every decade has provided at least one NFL team of dominance, and the Chiefs may have more advantages at the outset than some that went on to sustained greatness.
Let’s look at five NFL dynasties in the Super Bowl era, starting with Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers, who actually started their remarkable run in the 1960s before the first Super Bowl, identify clues that foreshadowed the dominance and see if there’s any semblance to the current Chiefs.
1960-67 Green Bay Packers
Vince Lombardi’s Packers lost the 1960 NFL Championship Game, then won three of the next five NFL titles and the first two Super Bowls. In an NFL world without free agency, some 10 players who started for the Packers in 1961 championship season were starters on the second Super Bowl title team of 1967. The 1961 title team included the most Pro Football Hall of Fame players (12) of any NFL team.
Like the Chiefs: The Packers’ run started with a loss. According to offensive guard Jerry Kramer, Lombardi said after the 1960 game he was proud of the team and that he did not intend to lose another championship game. Lombardi didn’t. The Packers won their next nine postseason games, including five championships. If the Chiefs turn their run into a dynastic era, it will have started with the loss to the Patriots in last season’s AFC Championship Game.
1972-79 Pittsburgh Steelers
Four Super Bowl titles in six years (1974-79) hasn’t been duplicated, and by the time the Steelers won their fourth Super Bowl, no other franchise had won more than two. Nine Hall of Fame players were part of four championship teams, and one draft class produced four of them. In 1974, wide receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, linebacker Jack Lambert and center Mike Webster were drafted by the Steelers. A fifth Hall of Famer, safety Donnie Shell, was an undrafted rookie that season.
Like the Chiefs: The franchise’s first Super Bowl title in the 1974 season provided a feel-good moment for the NFL. Long-time owner Art Rooney, who founded the team in 1933, was finally rewarded. The Hunt family felt similar affection from the NFL and sporting world, having gone 50 years between championships.
1981-98 San Francisco 49ers
This amazing run of consistent winning football started two years after the Terry Bradshaw-led Steelers won their final Super Bowl and three years before Tom Brady’s Patriots won their first. New England has passed the 49ers for dynasty longevity but San Francisco gets extra credit for remaining on a Super Bowl winning track with two quarterbacks (Joe Montana, Steve Young) and two coaches (Bill Walsh and George Seifert). In all, the Niners won five Super Bowls and reached the playoffs in 16 of 18 years. Jerry Rice, the greatest wide receiver in NFL history, connects the eras.
Like the Chiefs: The first Super Bowl triumph came in Montana’s third season, and he was chosen the game’s MVP. He had started one game in his rookie season. That’s the first and third year path of Mahomes, although a big difference in their second seasons. Montana started seven games, and Mahomes was the league’s MVP.
1991-99 Dallas Cowboys
Perhaps the most famous trade in NFL history helped put the Cowboys on a fast track to success: Eight playoff appearances, six division titles and three Super Bowl championships in nine years might not have happened had the Cowboys not sent their best player, running back Herschel Walker, to the Vikings in a deal that involved 18 players and three teams. Dallas was on its way to a 1-15 season in 1989 when the trade was made. But the move brought back veteran players and draft picks the Cowboys used to select running back Emmitt Smith, safety Darren Woodson and defensive tackle Russell Maryland. They were added to a roster that included quarterback Troy Aikman and wide receiver Michael Irvin.
Like the Chiefs: To reach the top, the Cowboys had to slice through one of the greatest dynasties in NFL history, the 49ers. They met in three straight NFC Championship Games, with Dallas winning in 1992 and 1993. The Chiefs didn’t go directly through the Patriots to reach the Super Bowl but that’s the franchise they look to supplant.
2001-present New England Patriots
Whereas the 49ers turned over coach and quarterback to keep alive their nearly two decades of dominance, the Patriots have turned over all other personnel except Bill Belichick and Brady. Making the feat all the more impressive: It’s occurred entirely in the parity promoting free agency and salary cap era. Incredibly, New England won three Super Bowls in four years beginning in 2001, made the playoffs in eight of the next nine years, then won three Super Bowls in five seasons. Six Super Bowls ties the Steelers for the most won by a franchise, and they all belong to one quarterback and coach.
Is the Patriots’ run over? Don’t count on it. Even if Brady moves on, Belichick isn’t moving, and the last time New England played a season without Brady they finished 11-5 but missed the playoffs.
Like the Chiefs: Brady, like Mahomes, was 24 when he won his first Super Bowl. Young quarterbacks is a common threat through first championships that became dominant runs. Aikman and Bradshaw were 26 and Bart Starr 27 when they won their first championship.
Otherwise, dynasties can begin with a loss, like the 1960s Packers, or a Super Bowl victory like the 1981 49ers and 2001 Patriots. They have occurred in eras of restricted and free player movement. They’ve been in the NFC and AFC, One characteristic dynasties have in common is quarterback play that reaches a Hall of Fame level.
With a Super Bowl victory in hand and the Chiefs and Mahomes looking to come to terms on a new deal, that part of the equation is pointed in the right direction.