The 1968 Packers didn't make it, but that was to be expected: They were already older than Old Faithful and had said goodbye to Vince Lombardi. The 1974 Dolphins didn't make it, as Kenny Stabler found Clarence Davis among Miami's many players, ending Don Shula's search just before the WFL ripped through the core of his team.
The 1976 Steelers never got there despite allowing just 28 points combined in nine straight wins to end the season, and when they tried again in 1979, they simply fell prey to the forces of time.
The 1990 49ers should have done that, but Leonard Marshall nearly sent Joe Montana to Kingdom Come, Lawrence Taylor forced a fumble and Matt Barr made five field goals to lead the Giants to victory. The '94 Cowboys lost Jimmy Johnson, the '99 Broncos lost John Elway and the '05 Patriots somehow lost to Jake Plummer in Denver.
A three-peat is hard. Stuff happens, players leave, coaches leave. The target on a team's back already feels as big as Niagara Falls, but with a three-peat, it suddenly becomes three or four times as big. A three-peat is hard in any sport, but in the NFL, it's mathematically impossible and physically impossible.
And yet, here we are, the Kansas City Chiefs.
On Thursday night, they began a mission never before accomplished by any other powerhouse in the sport's 57 years since the Super Bowl's inception. And what a start they got, winning 27-20, edging out Lamar Jackson and the red-hot Ravens by a score narrower than Kevin Durant's ill-fated 3-pointer in Brooklyn a few years ago.
“It was nerve-wracking,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “What a way to start the season.”
Here's what we know about the Chiefs:
What sets them apart from the first eight teams to try the trick is that they're at least as good now as they were when they won 25-22 in Super Bowl 53 at Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11. In fact, they might even be better, especially with the energetic rookie Xavier Worthy, who scored two touchdowns on his first touches as a pro.
“I'm going to put it in the frame,” he said of the two TD game balls.
What's not up for debate is that they still have Steve Spagnuolo, a four-time Super Bowl champion who is on a hot streak this year in pursuit of his fifth. They still have Andy Reid, who enters this season with 258 wins, fourth-most of any coach to have worked in the NFL. And, of course, they have Mahomes.
Mahomes doesn't even turn 29 until Sept. 17, but he's already a three-time Super Bowl champion, a two-time MVP and the hottest prospect in the league. And even if he's past the cartoonish stats of his youth, there's no one teams fear more than Mahomes when they need to protect a lead late in games — not Josh Allen, not Lamar Jackson, not Joe Burrow, not Jalen Hurts.
“Patrick gives us a chance to win every game we play,” Reid said earlier in the summer, “and it doesn't matter if it's a mid-September game or the last game of the season. We always want to get to the Super Bowl. We're not a one-man team, but he's the force that guides us.”
The Chiefs have never been shy about talking about their lofty ambitions — they started talking about a third straight championship about a minute and a half after Mahomes threw a 3-yard pass to Mecole Hardman with three seconds left in the first overtime period of the Super Bowl — and they know what's within their grasp — and there's more to come.
They can really do this.
For many of the other teams, the reasons for their failed attempts were obvious, perhaps most regrettable of all being the '90 49ers, who started 10-0 and only lost twice by a combined 14 points, but the Giants came close to beating them the previous season, losing 7-3 on a Monday night in early December in a rock fight, then went on to win the NFC title game in one of the greatest rock fights of all time.
The Chiefs looked weak for much of last season, then went on the road and beat the Bills in Buffalo and the Ravens in Baltimore to further enhance their aura. So they won't be as hung up on seeding or home turf as other teams. They showed they can do it the easy way, by hosting the Arrowhead January Invitational, or the hard way, by getting on a plane. Now they have to prove they can do it again, either way.
And then they did something no team in the Super Bowl era had ever done before: They were 1-0 and off to a strong start. You could even say off to a good start.
