Can the Kansas City Chiefs Become the NFL's Next Great Dynasty?
The Kansas City Chiefs are defending Super Bowl champions. The team is currently in a great spot, sitting at 12-1 and in first place in the AFC standings. They just wrapped up their fifth consecutive AFC West title (2016-2020) and have their future Hall of Fame coach and quarterback locked up for as long as they want to be in town. Exactly how good are the Chiefs right now and what is their ceiling going into the future?
For this season, they are hoping to do something that only two other teams in NFL history have ever done: finish a season with an 18-1 record and as Super Bowl Champions. The 1984 San Francisco 49ers and 1985 Chicago Bears are the only two teams to accomplish that feat.
It will take a total team effort to finish the season on a 14-game winning streak. If the Chiefs can pull it off, that would be the fourth-longest single-season winning streak behind the 2003 New England Patriots (who won 15 games to close the season with a Super Bowl title), 2007 New England Patriots (who won their first 17 before losing in the Super Bowl), and 1972 Miami Dolphins (who finished 17-0 with a Super Bowl title).
If the Chiefs put it all together in all three phases of the game, there is no team in the NFL that can beat them this season. When the offense is clicking, they can score 50 points. Even when the offense isn’t on their A-game, they still score 22 or more points every week. When the defense is playing well, they don’t allow opposing teams to score more than 20 points and are creating turnovers. When the special teams unit is clicking, they score touchdowns of their own and don’t miss field goals and extra points.
It seems as if the Chiefs have really only put together a complete effort in two of their games this season, in wins over the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills. You could say they had dominant wins in back-to-back weeks against the Denver Broncos and New York Jets, but those are two of the worst teams in the AFC. For a team that could be talked about as one of the greatest in NFL history by the end of the season, the Chiefs seem to be skating by.
Will we see an aggressive Kansas City team this week against the New Orleans Saints? Fans would sure like to see a complete game and a beatdown of one of the top contenders in the NFC. In the end, a win is a win, no matter how it looks. Truth be told, a loss wouldn’t even impact the Chiefs' hold on the No. 1 seed in the AFC. What it comes down to is a mindset. The Chiefs closed the 2019 season with a bang and ended up winning the Super Bowl. This is the goal again for the 2020 season.
But what is the ceiling going forward for the Kansas City Chiefs franchise? Five consecutive AFC West titles is a nice start. The NFL record for most consecutive seasons winning a division, 11 by the New England Patriots, officially came to an end this season. The Patriots went to five Super Bowls and won three during that stretch. It almost feels like three Super Bowls is the floor for expectations among Chiefs fans after what we’ve witnessed Mahomes do in his first three seasons as a starter in the NFL.
Mahomes has been on record saying his goal is to win more Super Bowl titles than any other quarterback in NFL history. Assuming he stays in Kansas City his whole career, that would mean Mahomes and the Chiefs would need to win six more Super Bowl rings together. A lofty goal, but that could truly be what the ceiling is for this Chiefs team throughout Mahomes’ time in Kansas City.
Despite all of the long-term goals and expectations, there is still work to be done this season. The Chiefs look to continue their current winning streak against the Saints in New Orleans on Sunday. Another step along the path to a potential dynasty in the making.
