It almost feels like what the Kansas City Chiefs are about to attempt isn’t being talked about enough.
This is only the fifth opportunity for an NFL three-peat we’ve seen in the last 35 years. Haven’t we had more eclipses than that in that time frame?
If the last two postseasons have taught us anything, it’s that the Chiefs, through guile and near flawless execution under pressure, have ascended to the highest level of team sports: stealing championships. Kansas City had a ringside seat for what a ring heist looks like in January of 2019, when New England came into Arrowhead Stadium and defeated the Chiefs, despite not being given much of a chance, to the point that the Pats’ perceived futility was recognized even by the Patriots themselves. Call it football osmosis if you will—the torch was passed to the Chiefs that day.
The stealing championships idea is simple: You don’t have the best roster, or often times home field. You’re not flashy. The regular season awards aren’t coming your way and you probably don’t have a ton of guys winning you your fantasy league. You’re dealing with injuries and, legitimately, nobody believes in you. And yet you discover ways to win in January and February that leaves people saying…“How the HELL did they win that game?!?” Think of Jordan’s Bulls in 1998, where by the end Mike looked like an ant carrying three times his own body weight to lift Chicago to another title.
KC’s first ring was more traditional. They won Super Bowl LIV in 2020 with their hotshot quarterback coming off a 5,000 yard/50 touchdown season the year before. They had a dynamic tight end in his prime and the fastest receiver in football. They also had at least one All-Pro on offense, defense and special teams (and Patrick Mahomes wasn’t even one of them). Yet it was their two most recent Super Bowl victories that should’ve resulted in every NFL team contacting the local authorities.
It may not seem like it now since they’ve won two straight and three of the last five, but a closer examination of those title runs reveals just how tenuous the Chiefs’ grip on the Lombardi Trophy truly was.
2023 Playoff Run
Andy Reid’s crew found a way to eliminate the Jacksonville Jaguars, in no small part to Travis Kelce catching 14 of 17 targets and two scores, while Chad Henne came on in relief of an injured Mahomes and engineered a 98-yard touchdown drive. They then exercised their Cincinnati demons by winning an inexplicable dog fight that, based on the box score, probably should’ve been an easy W. A clutch 3rd down sack by Chris Jones thwarted a late Joe Burrow drive that could’ve won it for the Bengals. In the Super Bowl, following the longest punt return in history to line up a fourth quarter score, a hobbled Mahomes courageously scrambled for 26 yards to set up the winning kick.
2024 Playoff Run
Last season the Chiefs did what many (including this author) questioned if they could do—get to the big dance by winning playoff games on the road. They took out the Bills in Buffalo in a game where Mahomes threw for a Tebownian 215 yards; Kelce and Isiah Pacheco combined for 186 yards and three touchdowns. The Ravens proved to be no match a week later, as Kelce snagged all 11 of his targets and Mahomes hit a clutch pass deep to Marquez Valdes-Scantling to ice the game in the waning seconds. Then on Super Sunday, trailing in overtime after putting together a late drive to tie the game, the Chiefs cobbled together a championship-winning drive to cement the dynasty.
The late-game precision and poise exhibited by Kansas City is the stuff of legend.
On the Other Hand…
It isn’t inaccurate to say the Chiefs have been the benefactors of some staggeringly good playoff fortune to help them swipe these last two titles:
- The Chiefs AFC Championship winning drive against Cincinnati saw more than 50% of its yardage accounted for by a late hit out of bounds on Mahomes.
- Jalen Hurts (who otherwise thoroughly outplayed Mahomes) inexplicably handed the Chiefs seven points in the second quarter of Super Bowl LVII. Nobody hit him—he literally just dropped the ball and Kansas City ran it back for six.
- KC drew a team from Miami to play them outdoors in the fourth coldest game in NFL history.
- In January, Tyler Bass missed a 44-yard field goal that would’ve tied the Bills/Chiefs game with under two minutes to play. Because of this, Bass was forced to delete his social media accounts, and may or may not have since assumed the identity of a missing hiker.
- Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has made 35 of 36 possible kicks in the last two playoffs, including 17 of 18 field goals and 4 of 4 from 50+ yards.
- Zay Flowers fumbled at the one yard line early in the fourth quarter of the AFC Title Game. His touchdown would’ve brought the Ravens to within three points.
- There were four total fumbles in that game—none were recovered by the Ravens.
- There were seven total fumbles in Super Bowl LVIII—six were recovered by the Chiefs.
- Dre Greenlaw tore his Achilles running onto the field in the middle of the Super Bowl. San Francisco’s second-leading tackler, Greenlaw is one of Pro Football Focus’ highest rated linebackers.
- The Chiefs were one of the healthiest teams in football in 2022 and 2023.
And this doesn’t account for the growing number of hilariously debated calls in big moments that have gone the Chiefs way over the last two seasons.
None of this is specific to Kansas City. The dirty secret is every championship team gets a big boost from “Lady Luck” along the way. And in fairness, this franchise has dealt with more than their fair share of playoff misfortune, and some of the above one could aruge is rooted in skill. But it stands to reason if Butker happens to shank a couple of kicks, fumble luck doesn’t go their way or if one of football’s better coverage linebackers is available to chase Travis Kelce around Las Vegas last February, the Chiefs may not be gunning for their third consecutive ring, regardless of what you think of their quarterback. This also means that the rhetoric around Mahomes and the Chiefs being untouchable should cease expeditiously.
But as they say, luck is the residue of design. No team is better prepared to capitalize when the football gods shine light upon them than the Kansas City Chiefs. Very few teams, if any, could do what they’ve done if given the same opportunities.
So where does that leave the Chiefs on the eve of the 2024 NFL season? If they’re going to have any hope at three-peating, they’ll need to be considerably better than they have been. Meandering their way through the regular season, not having home field in the postseason, going scoreless in the second half of a conference championship game and posting 17 straight drives without a touchdown across the AFCCG and Super Bowl simply will not cut it. The injury breaks, the schedule breaks, the calls, the unexplainable plays…all of it cannot possibly be in “the script” again.
If it is, then the Smithsonian should invest in better security around the Hope Diamond because there’s no telling what jewelry Reid, Jones, Kelce and Mahomes may look to steal next.