Chiefs Join Two Packers Teams Among Top NFL Dynasties
GREEN BAY, Wis. – With a third Super Bowl in five wins, the Kansas City Chiefs are a dynasty. Somehow, it’s fitting that their quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, wears the same No. 15 as Green Bay Packers legend Bart Starr, who authored arguably the greatest dynasty in NFL history.
Here is our ranking of the top eight dynasties in NFL history.
No. 8 – Chicago Bears: 1940-1946
Under George Halas, the Bears won four championships in a span of seven seasons. The dynasty started with a 73-0 shellacking of Washington in the 1940 championship game. Plus, the 1942 team went 11-0 in the regular season with an unprecedented average margin of victory of 26.5 points but lost to Washington in the title game. Their seven-season point differential of plus-912 was almost as good as the next two teams combined.
No. 7 – Dallas Cowboys: 1992-1995
In a span of four seasons, the Cowboys won three Super Bowls. With the famous “Triplets” of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin, the Cowboys were No. 2 in scoring and No. 1 in points allowed during that span. Who knows how history might have been different had owner Jerry Jones not replaced Jimmie Johnson with Barry Switzer after the 1995 season.
No. 6 – Green Bay Packers: 1929-1939
Of course, nobody remembers the Curly Lambeau-led Packers. Games weren’t on TV, let alone televised in color. Stats from the era are sparse. Nonetheless, the Packers were a juggernaut. They became the first team in NFL history to three-peat, doing it from 1929 through 1931 – a feat unmatched until Vince Lombardi’s juggernaut. The 1929 team went 12-0-1 and outscored its opponents 198-22. With the arrival of the immortal and revolutionary Don Hutson, the Packers won the championship in 1936, lost the championship game in 1938 and won another title in 1939.
No. 5 – Pittsburgh Steelers: 1974-1979
The Steelers won back-to-back Super Bowls in 1974 and 1975 as well as 1978 and 1979. Plus, they reached AFC Championship Games in 1972 and 1976. From 1972 through 1979, the Steelers were No. 1 in wins, points scored and points against. Humorously, those Steel Curtain defenses allowed 1,574 points in 116 games. The expansion Seahawks, who began play in 1976, allowed 1,532 points in 60 games.
No. 4 – San Francisco 49ers: 1981-1994
Two-time NFL MVP Joe Montana won Super Bowls in 1981, 1984, 1988 and 1989. Another two-time MVP, Steve Young, added another Super Bowl in 1994. Bill Walsh was coach for the first three championships and George Seifert for the last two. Along with five Super Bowl wins, they lost four NFC title games – including 14-2 seasons in 1990 and 1992. The 1984 team was one of the greatest ever, going 15-1 and trouncing MVP Dan Marino and the Dolphins in the Super Bowl.
During those 14 seasons, the 49ers won 23 games more than any other team. Their point differential of plus-2,092 was more than the next three teams combined.
No. 3 – Kansas City Chiefs: 2019-Present
Patrick Mahomes took over at quarterback in 2018. His seasons have produced three Super Bowl wins, one Super Bowl loss and two losses in AFC Championship Games. The Chiefs’ 75 regular-season wins are nine more than the next team (Baltimore). It’s an absurd level of winning. This year’s 11-6 record was their worst. Previous teams were driven by Mahomes’ brilliance. The 2023 team was powered by the defense. Great teams, of course, find multiple ways to win.
“It means a ton. It’s legendary,” Mahomes said after delivering the game-winning drive against San Francisco in Sunday’s Super Bowl. “It’s the start of one [a dynasty]. We’re not done. We’ve got a young team. We’re going to keep this thing going.”
No. 2 – New England Patriots: 2001-2018
In 2001, the upstart Patriots, led by unheralded Tom Brady, stunned the “Greatest Show on Turf” Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. Who would have thought that was just the start? Bill Belichick’s team added Super Bowl wins in 2003 and 2004. Then, after a decade break, won Super Bowls in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
From 2003 through 2019, the Patriots won double-digits games every season and claimed the AFC East in all but one season – 2008, when Brady missed most of the season due to injury. From 2011 through 2018, the Patriots won three Super Bowls, lost two Super Bowls and lost three AFC title games.
In those 18 seasons, New England won 220 games (Pittsburgh was a distant second with 188) and its point differential of +2,645 was more than Pittsburgh (plus-1,422) and Green Bay (+1,183) combined.
No. 1 – Green Bay Packers: 1961-1967
The Brady-Belichick dynasty won six Super Bowls in 18 seasons. That’s nice. The Vince Lombardi dynasty won five NFL championships in seven seasons. The Brady-Belichick dynasty had, well, Brady and Belichick. The Packers had Lombardi and Bart Starr and an all-star team filled with future Hall of Famers. They had icons of the game at almost every position group.
Among the 14 non-expansion NFL teams during that seven-year stretch, the Packers were No. 1 in wins (by nine), points scored (by 32) and points allowed (by 395). After losing in the 1960 NFL Championship Game at Philadelphia, the Packers won an unprecedented nine consecutive playoff games, including Super Bowls I and II in blowout fashion.
The 1962 team, which was powered by MVP running back Jim Taylor, belongs in the conversation for the best in NFL history. That team went 13-1. It led the NFL in points scored and points allowed; its average score was 29.6 to 10.6. Lombardi’s finest coaching job came in 1967, when he pushed the dynasty over the finish line for the first three-peat since Lambeau’s teams 46 years earlier.
