The Chiefs Incredible Run

By Trevor Speetzen January 18, 2025 16:19

Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

For the ninth consecutive season, the Kansas City Chiefs won the AFC west division. From 2016-2024, the Chiefs have ruled all in the west and they have been extremely successful in the playoffs during that time.

During that span, the Chiefs have made four Super Bowl appearances and have won three of them in 2019, 2022 and 2023.

In Super Bowl 54, Kansas City defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-20. In Super Bowl 57, the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35. Then in Super Bowl 58, they defeated the niners once more 25-22.

Before Kansas City went on this dominant run in the past decade, they were bottom of the league. In 2012, the team hit an all-time low when they finished the year 2-14, the worst in franchise history, and earned the number one overall pick in the 2013 draft.

In 2013 with Alex Smith at quarterback, the Chiefs made the playoffs as a Wild Card, but lost in the first round to the Indianapolis Colts who made a dramatic comeback to win 45-44.

After failing to make the postseason in 2014, Kansas City returned to the playoffs in 2015 as a wild card again. The Chiefs defeated the Houston Texans in the first round 30-0, their first playoff win in 23 seasons. They were defeated by the New England Patriots in the next round.

Their first divisional title came in 2016 where they were the second seed and had a first-round bye, but would ultimately lose 18-16 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round.

The team repeated their divisional title in 2017, but lost in the wild card round to Marcus Mariota and the Tennessee Titans 22-21. After choking in the playoffs the last two seasons, the Chiefs parted ways with Smith as their QB and turned to their 2017 first-round pick, Patrick Mahomes.

In his first season as the team’s starting quarterback, Mahomes threw 50 passing touchdowns and 5,097 passing yards. He won the league MVP that year and took the team all the way to the AFC championship game, where they would lose to the Patriots again 37-31.

In 2019, the team finally broke through and won their first Super Bowl in 50 years after defeating the 49ers 31-20. The team made it back to the big game in 2020, but their chance to repeat came to an end after losing to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-9.

Despite the loss, the Chiefs continued their reign in 2021, finishing the year 12-5 and won their sixth consecutive division title. The team would host the AFC championship game for the fourth year in a row, but would lose to the Cincinnati Bengals 27-24.

Despite missing out on their third consecutive Super Bowl, Kansas City made the big game each of the last two seasons. They would win both of these games against the Eagles and 49ers, respectively.

In 2024, after defeating the Los Angeles Chargers 19-17 in week 14, the Kansas City Chiefs won their ninth consecutive AFC west title. Can they be the first team in NFL history to win three-straight Super Bowls.