Will the Chiefs become the first team to three-peat? Here's what went wrong for past contenders
When the Kansas City Chiefs take the field Thursday against the Baltimore Ravens, they will begin their quest to do something no NFL team has done during the Super Bowl era: win three straight championships.
When the Kansas City Chiefs take the field Thursday against the Baltimore Ravens, they will begin their quest to do something no NFL team has done during the Super Bowl era: win three straight championships.
Starting in 1966 with the Green Bay Packers, winners of the first two Super Bowls, eight teams have won back-to-back titles yet zero were able to capture an elusive third in a row. Here’s a look at what sunk those teams, and at whether the Chiefs are capable of avoiding the same fate and finally making history.
The first two Super Bowl-winning Packers teams were led by one of the greatest coaches in league history, Vince Lombardi. The 1968 Packers were not. Lombardi retired to the front office after Super Bowl II, and the team clearly felt his absence on the sideline and missed the playoffs.
The first of the Dolphins' two Super Bowl wins capped off a perfect season. After the second, they made it to the AFC Divisional Round in 1974. They lost to the Oakland Raiders in what’s now known as the “Sea of Hands” game. (It’s never a good sign for a losing team to be involved in a game that has its own special name.) Oakland running back Clarence Davis made an improbable touchdown catch amid a “sea of hands“ in the game’s waning seconds to seal the win for the Raiders.
The Kansas City Chiefs celebrate after defeating the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Feb. 11. Ezra Shaw / Getty Images1976 Pittsburgh SteelersThe Raiders did it again to the 1976 Steelers, though this one was a little less dramatic. While Oakland was clearly an elite team in its own right, the Raiders were aided greatly by injuries when they knocked out Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship game. The Steelers were without their two 1,000-yard rushers, Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier, severely hurting their offense.
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