The Kansas City Chiefs have a chance to do something no team (not the Dallas Cowboys, not the Pittsburgh Steelers, not even the New England Patriots) has ever done: win three straight Super Bowls.
Those four teams, along with the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos, have tasted a special kind of victory by lifting the Lombardi Trophy two seasons in a row.
But no one has ever won three consecutive titles. The Chiefs, as the number one seed in the AFC, have a great chance of reaching the top of the NFL once again.
With Kansas City on the verge of doing something no one has done before, they could be forgiven for having their minds set on that goal.
Apparently, that's not the case, at least that's according to one team leader: tight end Travis Kelce.
Kelce says the team is very focused on the task immediately before them: an AFC divisional round clash against the Houston Texans at home on Saturday.
Travis Kelce gave an abrupt response when asked about the mentality of the KC locker room
Kelce and the Chiefs aim to become the first NFL team to achieve a three-peat
| Equipment | First victory | Second victory | Third result? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Bay | Super Bowl I | Super Bowl II | Playoffs lost (NYJ won SB III) |
| Miami | Super Bowl VII | Super Bowl VIII | Divisional round lost (PIT wins SB IX |
| pittsburgh | Super Bowl IX | Super Bowl | AFC Championship lost (OAK wins SB XI) |
| pittsburgh | Super Bowl XII | Super Bowl XIV | Playoffs lost (OAK wins SB XV) |
| san francisco | Super Bowl XXIII | Super Bowl XXIV | NFC Championship lost (NYG wins SB XXV) |
| dallas | Super Bowl XXVII | Super Bowl XXVIII | NFC Championship lost (SF wins SB XXIX) |
| Denver | Super Bowl XXXII | Super Bowl XXXIII | Playoffs lost (STL wins SB XXXIV) |
| New England | Super Bowl XXXVIII | Super Bowl XXXIX | Divisional round lost (PIT wins SB XL) |
| Kansas City | Super Bowl LVII | Super Bowl LVIII | To be determined |
“I haven't heard anyone talk about anything like three shifts, anything like that,” Kelce told Chris Berman in an interview with ESPN.
'We are focused on the Houston Texans right now. “Anybody can get beat in the playoffs if they don't come in with the right mentality, the right mentality.”
While the team's current mindset is on the next game ahead, Mahomes and the Chiefs have at least discussed a potential three-peat.
“(It would be) legendary,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said last February of a hat trick, via ESPN's Adam Teicher.
“No one has ever done it and we knew it's legendary to win back-to-back.” I think eight other teams have done it.
'We had heard it all week. “We had talked to the guys (who had gone back-to-back) about this, and we felt like we had the best opportunity we'd ever had to go out and do that.”
While Kansas City is certainly poised for a third title (going 15-2 in the regular season and earning home-field advantage during the playoffs), history is not on its side.
Of the previous eight teams to attempt a third title (Pittsburgh had two attempts), no consecutive champion has even reached a third consecutive Super Bowl, much less won the Big Game.
In fact, of those eight, three missed the playoffs entirely.
History is not on the side of the Chiefs, led by Kelce (right) and quarterback Patrick Mahomes (left).
Two of those teams, the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots, were eliminated in the divisional round, the same round the Chiefs are playing this weekend.
Only three teams seeking the three-peat reached their conference championship games. All of those teams (Pittsburgh (the first time), San Francisco and Dallas) ended up losing to the eventual Super Bowl champions (the Oakland Raiders, New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers, respectively).
If Kansas City takes care of business, as expected, they would face the winner of a game between the Buffalo Bills and the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC title game.
There is recent history with both teams. The Chiefs beat the Ravens by just one score in the NFL season opener at home. Later in the season, they lost to the Bills by nine on the road.
Both teams also have playoff revenge on their minds. Last year, the Chiefs beat both the Bills and the Ravens to reach the Super Bowl. Kansas City beat Buffalo in the divisional round by three points before beating the Ravens in Baltimore by a touchdown.