The Kansas City Chiefs, two-time defending Super Bowl champs and winner of three Vince Lombardi Trophies in the last five seasons, are going after something historic and unprecedented this coming season. They’re looking to become the first time to ever win three straight Super Bowl titles.
They definitely seem to have what it takes, at least personnel-wise, to accomplish that Herculean task.
It all starts with Patrick Mahomes, the best quarterback in the NFL and likely one of the three greatest quarterbacks of all time already despite being more than a year shy of his 30th birthday. They also have arguably the world’s best tight end in Travis Kelce and defensive studs such as defensive tackle Chris Jones and cornerback Trent McDuffie, both of whom made the All-Pro First Team last season.
However, winning three world championships in a row is astronomically tough.
In an article about the biggest questions a few marquee teams face, Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report addressed whether the Chiefs can win it all again, and he doesn’t exactly sound optimistic.
“It’s a situation where just about everything has to go right—again,” Davenport wrote. “One misstep or significant injury can be all it takes to derail the dream. And the Chiefs are already dealing with some adversity thanks to wide receiver Rashee Rice’s legal problems.
“The Chiefs are an excellent team. But the AFC is loaded with excellent teams—and there’s a reason that almost 60 Super Bowls in, no one has captured three straight.
“Answer: No”
The Chiefs are facing an uphill battle
As Davenport alluded to, the argument that Kansas City won’t win another Super Bowl championship starts with the legal charges Rice faces stemming from a car crash he was involved in earlier this year. He’s facing eight charges as a result, and a guilty verdict could result in serious time behind bars for him.
Even if he’s found not guilty of all charges, Rice could still be suspended by the NFL. That would be a serious blow to a Chiefs team that has been dependent on a largely young and unproven wide receiver room.
The Chiefs did add Marquise Brown, a somewhat more established—albeit not game-changing—wideout, this offseason. They also drafted Xavier Worthy, a blazingly fast receiver who set an all-time record for the fastest 40-yard dash time in NFL scouting combine history. But the days of Tyreek Hill being a security blanket downfield for Mahomes are long gone.
Then there is the fact that the AFC is absolutely stacked. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans and New York Jets have all improved, at least on paper. And if the Chiefs make it back to the big game, a motivated San Francisco 49ers team could be there to meet them once again.
The 49ers, of course, are the team the Chiefs beat in both last season’s big game, as well as in Super Bowl LIV. It would seem unthinkable for them to defeat the same squad three times in six years with the world championship at stake.
But that’s usually the type of challenge that is at hand when a team is trying to engrave its autograph in the history books for perpetuity.
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