Chiefs Take Aim at Unprecedented Super Bowl Three-Peat

The Kansas City Chiefs are the ninth team to win back-to-back Super Bowls. So as we embark on the 2024 NFL season, the prevailing storyline is simple: Can Patrick Mahomes and Co. pull off the three-peat?

History says no. The first eight quests for a three-peat have resulted in failure. Five of those eight teams made the playoffs but fell short. Three of them reached the conference championships but ended the run there. Three teams missed the playoffs altogether.

It’s hard enough to win one Super Bowl, so of course there are any number of reasons why a three-peat is extraordinarily difficult. But the Chiefs might be in better position than any of the previous repeat champs to pull it off. They’ve still got Mahomes, already one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, and Andy Reid, already one of the game’s greatest head coaches.

“The biggest deterrent teams had in the past was losing staff members, losing players in free agency, trying to keep the core together,” said Bill Cowher, who won Super Bowl XL as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. “I think Andy’s done a very good job. Steve Spagnuolo’s one of the top defensive coordinators in the league. They pretty much have kept a lot things intact. Losing (cornerback) L’Jarius Sneed was probably the biggest (loss). But I think they are equipped.”

The Chiefs will be the biggest game on the schedule for most of the teams they’ll face in 2024, but of course that was the case last season as well. There were times last season when it looked as if Kansas City wouldn’t get back to the Super Bowl. After a Christmas Day loss to the Raiders, the Chiefs were 9-6, having lost four of their last six games.

After that, the offense leaned on a physical running game, and the defense played the “no respect” card and got tough. They won the final two regular-season games and swept through the postseason.

“The most impressive thing to me is that they have the unique ability to conform to whatever type of offense they need,” said CBS Sports’ Nate Burleson. “It’s like they flick a switch. All right, today, Mahomes, we need you to throw for 350. Next game, he’ll throw for 115 but will rush for 200.

“They keep everybody on their toes. All of these tendencies that most teams give off? The Chiefs don’t have many tendencies. And it keeps the surprise factor week in and week out.”

Then there’s Mahomes, who just happens to be the MVP in three of the past five Super Bowls .

“I told myself last year — after picking the Niners to win the Super Bowl — that I’ll never bet against Mahomes in the postseason again,” said Burleson. “For the rest of my life.”

If you go back in history before the Super Bowl era began, only one NFL franchise has pulled off the three-peat. That’s the Green Bay Packers — and they did it twice: 1929-31 under Curly Lambeau and then 1965-67 under that other Hall of Fame coach from Green Bay. The 1966 and ’67 titles were the first two Super Bowls, but the Packers failed to make the playoffs the following season.

Here's a look at the first eight back-to-back Super Bowl winners and why they failed to complete the three-peat:

How Back-to-Back Super Bowl Winners Fared the Following Season:

1966-67 Green Bay Packers
1968 Results: 6-7-1, third place in NFL’s Central Division
Why They Didn’t Three-Peat: For starters, Hall of Fame head coach Vince Lombardi stepped down just two weeks after the Packers won Super Bowl II. Lombardi was still GM for one more season, but Phil Bengston had the impossible task of replacing his imposing presence on the sideline. And the team that was so dominant for most of the 1960s was just getting older. Quarterback Bart Starr was 34 going into the ’68 season.

1972-73 Miami Dolphins
1974 Results: 11-3, first in AFC East; lost to Oakland Raiders in divisional playoffs
Why They Didn’t Three-Peat: Two years removed from their perfect season, the Dolphins remained a dominant force — and it took a somewhat miraculous play to eliminate them. Known as the “Sea of Hands” game, Miami led Oakland in the divisional playoffs with less than a minute to play. From the Dolphins’ 8-yard line, Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler lofted a desperation pass in the direction of running back Clarence Davis, who was draped by Miami defenders. Davis somehow made the game-winning grab. Oakland lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers a week later, and Pittsburgh went on to win the first of four Super Bowls in a six-year stretch.

1974-75 Pittsburgh Steelers
1976 Results: 10-4, first in AFC Central; lost to Raiders in AFC Championship Game
Why They Didn’t Three-Peat: For the second time in three years, the Raiders eliminated a team seeking to three-peat. This Steelers team came close. After a 1-4 start, they turned things around with one of the most dominant defenses in NFL history. Winning their last nine games of the regular season, Pittsburgh allowed an average of three points per game during that stretch, pitching five shutouts. But the Raiders got the better of them in the AFC title game and eventually cruised past the Vikings in Super Bowl XI.

1978-79 Pittsburgh Steelers
1980 Results: 9-7, third in AFC Central
Why They Didn’t Three-Peat: After their second run of back-to-back Super Bowls, the Steelers jumped out to a 4-1 start in 1980. But an aging defense could not sustain that success. The dominating Steel Curtain defense fell to middle of the pack in terms of yards and points allowed, and Pittsburgh missed the playoffs for the first time since 1971.

1988-89 San Francisco 49ers
1990 Results: 14-2, first in NFC West; lost to New York Giants in NFC Championship Game
Why They Didn’t Three-Peat: Perhaps the 49ers came closer than any other team to a three-peat. San Francisco had the best record in the NFL in 1990 and had defeated the Giants in Week 13 to help ensure home-field advantage for the playoffs. The 49ers led by a point with less than three minutes left in the NFC title game, but the Giants recovered a Roger Craig fumble, and Matt Bahr kicked the winning field goal as time expired. One week later, the Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV.

1992-93 Dallas Cowboys
1994 Results: 12-4, first in NFC East; lost to 49ers in NFC Championship Game
Why They Didn’t Three-Peat: The most notable difference between the 1992-93 Cowboys and this team was obvious — Jimmy Johnson resigned as head coach after winning Super Bowl XXVIII. Under Barry Switzer, Dallas was still loaded. But San Francisco would not be denied after losing back-to-back NFC title games to the Cowboys. Steve Young had a monster season for the 49ers, who would beat the Cowboys 38-28 before demolishing the Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. The Cowboys would come back a year later to win their third Super Bowl in four years.

1997-98 Denver Broncos
1999 Results: 6-10, fifth in AFC West
Why They Didn’t Three-Peat: No mystery here. Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway rode off into the sunset of retirement after winning back-to-back Super Bowls. With second-year quarterback Brian Griese taking over for Elway, Denver slipped to last place in the division.

2003-04 New England Patriots
2005 Results: 10-6, first in AFC East; lost to Denver Broncos in AFC divisional playoffs
Why They Didn’t Three-Peat: Despite winning the division, this Patriots team wasn’t the same squad that won back-to-back Super Bowls – particularly on defense. Cornerback Ty Law had been released, linebacker Tedy Bruschi missed half the season recovering from a stroke, and safety Rodney Harrison suffered a season-ending injury. New England made the playoffs but lost in the divisional round to Jake Plummer and the Broncos, who then lost in the AFC title game to the eventual Super Bowl XL-champion Steelers.

Can the 2024 Chiefs do what none of these eight teams have been able to accomplish? With Reid and Mahomes and so much continuity between this year’s squad and the teams that hoisted the Lombardi Trophy the past two seasons, it’s fair to say Kansas City is positioned as well to three-peat as any of the teams chronicled here.

“I know it’s something you’ll hear time and time again, but the toughest competition for the Chiefs is the Chiefs,” Burleson said. “And they’ve proven year in and year out that they don’t get in their own way, like most teams do. Most teams can’t handle regular-season success, let alone Super Bowl success.”

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