People love to debate who is the best in sports and Super Bowl LVIII will feature two great franchises – the Kansas City Chiefs vs the San Francisco 49ers. This is a rematch of Super Bowl LIV on Feb 2nd, 2020. The Kansas City Chiefs will appear in their fourth Super Bowl out of the last five seasons – which may beg the question – are we seeing a dynasty in progress?
First, what constitutes a sports dynasty? A definition on Wikipedia proclaims a dynasty is “a team or individual that dominates their sport or league for an extended length of time”. The challenge is what constitutes domination – what level of winning is required and what is a reasonable length of time.
Previous Football Dynasties
First, the Green Bay Packers have won the most championships with 13 in league history, with their most significant stretch being five between the years of ’61 through ’67. Green Bay also appeared in the ’60 game but lost to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The New England Patriots have the most Super Bowl appearances with 11, and during the span from 2001 to 2018 they had six Super Bowl wins and three appearances, meaning 53% of the time they were in the Super Bowl during this 17 year stretch.
The Dallas Cowboys earned six Super Bowl wins and three additional appearances during the years of 1970 through 1995. And the Pittsburgh Steelers had four super bowl wins over a six year span ’74 through ’79.
Perhaps the most interesting streak of Super Bowl appearances are the Buffalo Bills, making four Super Bowl appearances in a row and losing all four games. Yikes.
The Future Looks Bright
Since the league expanded to 32 teams in 2002, there appears to be even more parity in the NFL. Fifteen different teams won the Super Bowl during this 22 year period. No team has won back-to-back Super Bowls except the New England Patriots in 2003 and 2004. Most people think of New England as a dynasty during this period thanks to Bill Bellichick and Tom Brady.
Can Kansas City replicate New England’s success in this era? It is hard to not think the Kansas City Chiefs are on the cusp of a dynasty, making their fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years. Patrick Mahomes is only 28 years old, so it is possible for him to be the starting quarterback for another ten years. If they win on Sunday, they will have a 3 – 1 super bowl record through a five year period; and only the second team to win back to back Super Bowls in this league expanded era.
Yes – the Kansas City Chiefs has been dominant over the last several years and time will tell if they are the next dynasty.
