Mahomes, Chiefs making history on quest for unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat
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The Kansas City Chiefs are just one victory away from becoming the first team in the Super Bowl era to win three consecutive titles, but Patrick Mahomes and co. have already made history on their latest run to the big game.
With their AFC Championship victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Kansas City became the first team in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl five times across a six-season span.
The Chiefs first reached the Super Bowl in the Mahomes era during the 2019 season, ending a 50-year drought for the franchise after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 to kickstart their dynasty with the first of three titles.
Head coach Andy Reid would lead his team back to the Super Bowl a year later, but would fall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-9 in a game that saw the Chiefs’ offence fail to score a touchdown. Kansas City would then suffer another loss the following season, this time at the hands of Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship.
The Chiefs have not lost a playoff game since, winning nine straight en route to back-to-back championships in Super Bowl LVII and LVIII against the Philadelphia Eagles and 49ers.
There have been nine instances in NFL history in which a team has won back-to-back championships, but Kansas City is the first to make it back to the Super Bowl for a chance at three consecutive titles.
The 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1991 49ers, and 1995 Dallas Cowboys made the conference championship as reigning back-to-back champions, but would all be turned away one game shy of a potential three-peat.
Mahomes will also grab a piece of history for himself, moving into a tie for the second-most quarterback starts in the Super Bowl with Denver Broncos’ legend John Elway. Elway, the Super Bowl XXXIII MVP, made five Super Bowls starts from 1987-99, winning twice.
Tom Brady holds the record by a wide margin with 10 starts, but the seven-time champion was 34 by the time he accumulated he made his fifth career start. Mahomes enters his fifth Super Bowl at just 29, and could threaten Brady's record by the time it's all said and done.