The Chiefs Have Achieved Dynasty Status With Their Third Super Bowl Title In Five Years!

LAS VEGAS — This was believed to be the year the Kansas City Chiefs were vulnerable. Their wide receivers were dropping passes, their offence was committing penalties, Travis Kelce was said to be getting old, and Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes had no chance of overcoming all of this.

Nonetheless, they did, eliminating doubt that the Chiefs are the new NFL dynasty.

With their come-from-behind overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl on Sunday night, the Chiefs raised their third Lombardi Trophy in four trips during five years. They also became the first team to successfully defend their championship since the New England Patriots with Tom Brady two decades ago – the last great football dynasty.

When asked if the Chiefs had formed a dynasty, Mahomes said, “It’s the start of one.”

The Chiefs Have Achieved Dynasty Status With Their Third Super Bowl Title In Five Years!

“It’s a little surreal,” Reid explained. “I’m not sure what a dynasty is. You have a thesaurus, so you can figure it out. It’s a tremendous win because I know how difficult it is to do and how difficult the season has been, the ups and downs, and how pleased I am of the boys for simply hanging around and keeping positive with one another.”

Never before has an underdog won back-to-back Super Bowls, and it may best demonstrate two crucial facts: the Chiefs were eminently beatable this season, and no one could beat them when it counted.

Start with the roster, which general manager Brett Veach had to creatively assemble in order to make room for Mahomes’ $37 million salary cap hit this season. However, the architects of their last three title drives uncovered bargains like Jerick McKinnon and Drue Tranquill, who contributed far more than their monetary value.

Look at their wide receivers, both young and experienced, who dropped more passes than any other team in the league this season. However, they rallied around a modest rookie, Rashee Rice, who became their top option and a bona fide star.

It extends beyond personnel, however. Consider the route that Kansas City had to travel this season.

The Chiefs Have Achieved Dynasty Status With Their Third Super Bowl Title In Five Years!

The Chiefs once played six straight games in which the opposing team received extra days of rest, which is the only time this has occurred in NFL history. They had to play in Germany, defeating the Dolphins in Frankfurt in a foreshadowing of a future wild-card game, and then lost five of eight midway through the season, dropping to the No. 3 seed in the playoffs.

After defeating the Dolphins in the fourth-coldest game in NFL history, the Chiefs travelled to the playoffs for the first time in six years, with Mahomes as the starter. However, as underdogs in Buffalo and Baltimore, the Chiefs relished their unexpected role as hunters rather than the hunted, and they responded by playing their greatest football of the season.

Regarding the resistance level, the Chiefs traversed the most difficult path to the Super Bowl in history.

Then came a fitting conclusion in Las Vegas.

The Chiefs began by making the same foolish mistakes that pulled them down so frequently throughout the regular season, and they went behind San Francisco by double digits, just like they had in each of their four Super Bowls with Mahomes as quarterback. But, just as they did in defeating the 49ers four years ago and the Eagles last year, the finest team of its period rallied behind what is quickly becoming the best quarterback of any era to stage a memorable comeback.

With roughly 5 1/2 minutes remaining, Mahomes drove the Chiefs to a field goal, tying the game at 16 all. He drove them for another field goal with three seconds left, forcing overtime. And he responded to San Francisco’s field goal to start the overtime session with a fearless drive that Mahomes capped with his winning touchdown pass to the much-maligned Mecole Hardman.

“Same as always,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said of Mahomes later. “He’s unbelievable.”

The Chiefs continue to be outstanding.

“They are all difficult. “I’m not going to say one is tougher than the other,” Mahomes said about the title run. “It takes your best, and it was just struggling through adversity during the season, anytime the offence wasn’t performing as well as I wanted it to and just believing and fighting. But all of these games are challenging. “It requires your best football.”

Reid and Kelce allayed some Chiefs fans’ fears that they would retire following the Super Bowl, declaring late Sunday that they both expected to return next season. Mahomes and most of their core players will return. However, some difficult decisions loom with pending free agents.

The Chiefs Have Achieved Dynasty Status With Their Third Super Bowl Title In Five Years!

All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones and cornerback L’Jarius Sneed likely demand large contracts, and the Chiefs must also consider next year when several other key players will become free agents.

On Wednesday, the Chiefs will celebrate their latest Super Bowl victory with a parade through downtown Kansas City, and after a brief respite, Veach will rejoin Reid and the rest of their brain trust to resume work. The cycle will begin again.

Consistent success, as the Chiefs have demonstrated year after year, transforms great teams into dynasties.

“I mean, I am going to celebrate tonight. “I’m going to celebrate at the parade,” Mahomes said after winning his third Super Bowl MVP award, “and then I’m going to do everything I can to be back in this game next year and try for that three-peat.”

“I think Tom said it best: Once you win that championship, and you have those parades, and you get those rings, you’re not the champion anymore,” he remarked. “You have to come back with that same mentality and learn from guys like that who have been the greatest of all time at the highest level, and that is my mindset.” I will celebrate with my teammates for what we’ve accomplished, but we’ll return to this game next year.”

SOURCE – (AP)