Are Kansas City Chiefs a dynasty? Another Super Bowl victory would solidify it
No one in the NFL office pulls a file labeled Great Teams and stamps “Dynasty” on the cover to settle these matters once and for all.
Probably, anyway.
The task of identifying a pro football dynasty occurs every so often, and these days the topic is especially relevant in Middle America as the Kansas City Chiefs continue to stack their accomplishments.
The latest? Appearing in a conference championship game for the sixth straight year, Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. Win that and the Chiefs will be appearing in their fourth Super Bowl in five years, bidding for a third modern title.
Is this run of conference crowns, plus the Super Bowl banners, not to mention the NFL’s best record over the past decade, enough to qualify the Chiefs for dynasty status?
Or are there more dues to pay for the Chiefs to rub elbows with the likes of the New England Patriots for two decades, the glamour San Francisco 49ers of Joe Montana and Steve Young and the Steel Curtain Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s?
Rick Gosselin, who has covered the NFL for more than 50 years, including 14 in Kansas City, says the Chiefs are almost there.
“It’s all about the championships,” Gosselin said. “That’s where teams separate themselves.”
And three is his magic number.
To Gosselin, a trio of trophies in a condensed period is the stuff of dynasties. He breaks it down cleanly, by decades, starting with the 1950s. The Cleveland Browns won three (as did the Detroit Lions) and lost four NFL title games.
The Green Bay Packers ruled the 1960s, with five championships, including the first two Super Bowls.
The Steelers of the 1970s provided the greatest rate of championship return, with four titles in six years.
Four championships for the 49ers of the 1980s (and another in 1994), and three for the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s.
The Patriots got greedy and raised three banners in the first decade of the 21st century, and three more in the second.
Dominance by decade is one historian’s position.
Others may see things differently and include the Washington teams of Joe Gibbs that won three Super Bowls (with three different quarterbacks) from 1982-91.
Or the 1970s Cowboys that went 2-3 in Super Bowls and declared themselves America’s Team.
Or how about the Larry Csonka/Paul Warfield/Jim Kiick era of the Miami Dolphins? They went 2-1 in Super Bowls in the early 1970s and completed the NFL’s last perfect season in 1972.
Even a Buffalo Bills franchise that played in four straight Super Bowls could be part of the conversation. It would be a more convincing argument if they had won one of them.
The current run of success for the Chiefs starts in 2013, when owner Clark Hunt hired head coach Andy Reid, who had just been fired by the Philadelphia Eagles. The results over Reid’s first five seasons in Kansas City weren’t shabby: five winning records, four playoff appearances, two division titles and the organization’s first playoff victory in nearly three decades.
Then the Chiefs swerved into the fast lane, starting in 2018, when Patrick Mahomes became their starting quarterback. He’s never not played in an AFC championship Game. Sunday’s contest at Baltimore is his first away from Kansas City.
Only the Patriots, with eight, have a longer stretch of appearances in conference championship games.
Coincidentally, the Patriots’ streak ended and the Chiefs’ started in the same game: New England’s overtime triumph in the 2018 AFC title game.
At the time, optimistic Chiefs fans saw a bright future with Mahomes winning the MVP. What they may not have dared to envision is the path the Chiefs have taken — one that puts them on pace to stand with some of the greatest of all time.
“We still have a long ways to go,” Mahomes said. “The Patriots did it for 20 years. All we can do is take it year in, year out.”
In training camp, Mahomes was on board with the three-pack dynasty idea.
“I think we’re at the beginning of one,” he told CBS Sports. “I think in dynasties I always say you’ve got to win three.”
One feat that most dynastic teams accomplished: They won consecutive championships. All of the decade-leaders went back-to-back, except the Patriots of the 2010s. But they won three in five years.
The Chiefs would achieve that — consecutive titles and three in five years — if they win the upcoming Super Bowl. At that point, their dynasty credentials would be unquestioned.
“With Mahomes, there’s going to be more good ahead,” Gosselin said.