The 2023 Kansas City Chiefs will have their chance to join an exclusive club in NFL history.
Although it has happened eight times before, don't count on the Kansas City Chiefs repeating as Super Bowl champions.
While the 2023 Chiefs should certainly remain on a shortlist of about seven or eight teams who could realistically hoist the Lombardi Trophy in Las Vegas next February, overwhelming recent data suggests somebody else will get to conduct their own Super Bowl parade across town. In fact, the last repeat champions were the 2003-04 New England Patriots. It happened nearly 20 years ago.
Here is a list of repeat Super Bowl champions to date:
- 1966-67 Green Bay Packers
- 1972-73 Miami Dolphins
- 1974-75 Pittsburgh Steelers
- 1978-79 Pittsburgh Steelers
- 1988-89 San Francisco 49ers
- 1992-93 Dallas Cowboys
- 1997-98 Denver Broncos
- 2003-04 New England Patriots
While none of these teams should surprise you, the fact we haven't had a repeat Super Bowl champion in almost two decades should. This has everything to do with competitive balance.
Let's discuss the possibility and challenges that are ahead of the Chiefs this upcoming season.
Kansas City Chiefs are the latest team trying to end Super Bowl repeat drought
Frankly, if any organization is equipped to pull this off, it is Kansas City. The Andy Reid/Patrick Mahomes era of Chiefs football has been synonymous with AFC Championship games played at Arrowhead. Being consistently a top-four team in football is a great way to increase a franchise's odds of pulling this off. Still, the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick Patriots only accomplished this once.
And to be totally honest, there is one thing working against the Chiefs that is a bigger deal than we probably even realize. The AFC is just better at the top. If they were in the weaker of the two conferences, you would have to like their chances a tad more. However, the Chiefs will have to beat the likes of the Buffalo Bills, the Cincinnati Bengals, and whoever else the AFC brings forth.
So could you, or should you, pick the Chiefs to win it all again this season? I wouldn't blame you, but I think it will be somebody else this year. If it's not Kansas City winning the AFC, my money is on the Bengals. I don't really trust Buffalo and no other team in-conference has presented to me to be on their level… yet. Over in the NFC, stupid me might love me some Dallas Cowboys, baby!
For now, football will only have one repeat champion, and that would be the Georgia Bulldogs.