Can Chiefs Be The First To Three-Peat?

As the dust settles on Kansas City Chiefs’ second successive Super Bowl success, their focus now switches to winning three in a row. 

The defending champions overcame a 10-point deficit to beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime, to create their own dynasty. 

No team has ever ‘three-peated’ in the Super Bowl era, but with Andy Reid confirming he will be back as head coach next season, the Chiefs are well positioned to rewrite history.

Kansas City are currently second favourites on betting apps to win Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on February 9, 2025. San Francisco are the early favourites. 

The Chiefs became the ninth team to win back-to-back Super Bowls, so we thought we’d go through the history books to see how close previous teams came to winning three successive Super Bowls.

Conference Championship Games As Far As Anyone Got

Winning one Super Bowl places a target on your back for the following season as the team everyone wants to beat. 

To win back-to-back Super Bowls is an incredibly difficult thing to do, the Chiefs are the first team in two decades to do so. 

Of the eight previous dynasty teams, three fell at the Conference Championship stage in their quest for three in a row, two lost in the divisional round and three failed to make the playoffs. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers were the NFL’s team of the 1970s, winning four Super Bowls. Twice they won successive Super Bowls (1974, 1975 and 1978, 1979).

The Steelers failed to make the playoffs in 1976, and four years later, they saw their hopes of a ‘three-peat’ come to an end after a 24-7 defeat at Oakland Raiders in the AFC Conference Championship game.

The 49ers were looking to win their sixth Super Bowl on Sunday, but their wait will have to continue. 

San Francisco were going for their own three-peat in the 1990 season, but their campaign was ended by the New York Giants, who won 15-13 at Candlestick Park.

The Dallas Cowboys also stumbled at the Conference Championship game before Super Bowl XXIX when they were defeated 38-28 by the 49ers in San Francisco.

Patriots And Dolphins Fell At Divisional Round

Two of the eight teams to have won successive Super Bowls saw their bid to win three in a row ended in the divisional round of the playoffs. 

The Miami Dolphins were the NFL's best team in the early 1970s, recording the only perfect season in 1972, winning all 17 games before repeating a year later. 

Their quest for a hat-trick of wins in 1974 came to an end in Oakland in the game now known as the ‘Sea of Hands’ game. 

Despite being tackled, Ken Stabler managed to throw a pass into a crowded area of the end zone, where Clarence Davis managed to catch the ball for a touchdown.

Fast forward to the 2005 season and the New England Patriots were favourites to win Super Bowl XL on leading betting sites. 

The Patriots won the previous two Super Bowls, and with Bill Belichick calling the plays and quarterback Tom Brady leading the offense, they were confident of three-peating. 

However, a 27-13 loss in Denver in the divisional round put paid to their hopes of being the first team to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy three years in a row.

Chiefs Can Three-Peat With Reid And Mahomes

As long as Andy Reid remains head coach and quarterback Patrick Mahomes is fit and healthy to run the offense, the Kansas City Chiefs will be Super Bowl contenders.

Since Reid named Mahomes as his starting quarterback for the 2018 season, the Chiefs have made it to six successive AFC Conference Championship games. 

Sunday’s win over the 49ers was their third Super Bowl success in five years, and it could have been their fourth had they not lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV.

Many of their big stars, including Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce, are returning, but there are other pieces of the jigsaw that will need addressing. 

Defensive tackle Chris Jones and defensive back L’Jarius Sneed played a huge role in winning Super Bowl LVIII, and both have big decisions to make in the offseason. 

Both players are ticketed for free agency and could earn massive paydays by signing for new teams.

Kansas City's general manager Brett Veach has to figure out a way of trying to keep both players as they utilise their window of opportunity.

Could the prospect of being part of the first ever team to win three successive Super Bowls be enough to persuade players to stay for less money? Time will tell.