Chiefs’ fourth Super Bowl in five years puts them on cusp of indisputable dynasty

Of all the indelible and surreal stuff that made up the Chiefs’ first Super Bowl victory in 50 years, a snapshot of the scene afterwards speaks eloquently to the true phenomenon: what’s unfolded about ever since.

Only minutes after the on-field celebration of that 31-20 comeback victory over San Francisco in Super Bowl LIV, defensive tackle Chris Jones, still in his uniform, spoke of reveling in the confetti and savoring it all.

“Because you don’t get these moments often,” he said.

Nevertheless, a rapid-fire few seconds later Jones added a seemingly contradictory point as he declared both his intention to be a Chief for life and what that should imply.

“Win not only one championship: two, three, four,” he said, punctuating his words by repeatedly smacking his hand on a table. “Baby, we’ve got to build a dynasty here. You know what I’m saying?”

Saying it, of course, was one thing.

Delivering on it was something else, preposterous, even, because such moments are rare for a reason — particularly in the parity-dedicated NFL.

But here the Chiefs are now, through their most burdensome and at times distressing path yet, on the cusp of adding a defining capstone to a marvelous run.

On Feb. 11 in Las Vegas, the Chiefs will seek to cement a legacy rare and elusive in the history of the game with what would be a third Super Bowl victory in five seasons — a distinction that would end any quibbling over whether this remarkable phase in franchise history is merely great or truly historic in a certifiably dynastic sense.

If the Chiefs were to beat the 49ers again, they’d become the first NFL team to repeat as champion in nearly two decades. Adding to the luster, the Chiefs will have done it through what is measurably the thorniest four-game postseason path in league history and following an exasperating 11-6 regular season that in certain ways illuminated more blemishes than flourishes.

A win also would launch the Chiefs into the most rarefied frontiers in the annals of the NFL.

Consider that what would be the franchise’s fourth Super Bowl victory would leave the Chiefs trailing only the six won by New England and Pittsburgh and the five claimed by the 49ers and Cowboys.

Coach Andy Reid would become one of only five coaches to have won more than two. And Patrick Mahomes, at age 28, would stand among only five quarterbacks with three or more.

Of less long-term meaning yet lending a certain touch to a game in the entertainment capital of the world is the twist of the Chiefs being the host team for the first playoff game to be played at Allegiant Stadium — home of their forever-rival Raiders.

As if it weren’t vexing enough to the Raiders to have had a Chiefs flag buried under the stadium as it was being built in 2017 and where the Chiefs have beaten the Raiders by an average margin of 15.75 points per game since the Raiders moved to Las Vegas in 2020.

No wonder that Travis Kelce made it a point to remark on the Chiefs’ dominance in Las Vegas during a conference call last summer to preview “The Match,” a made-for-TV golf competition that spotlighted Kelce and Mahomes against Steph Curry and Klay Thompson of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

Asked if he was aware how much of an underdog the Chiefs’ players were, Kelce playfully balked and said, “I don’t know about Steph and Klay, but me and Pat have never lost in Vegas.”

So much so that Kelce joked that he figured the management of the Wynn Las Vegas would rather see them on the golf course than “on the roulette table or the craps table.”

While Kelce made it a point to add his comment was “not a shot at the Raiders at all, man,” it was hard to un-hear that as part of the point even before the duo added to their Viva Las Vegas mojo by winning “The Match.”

Not that the Chiefs are assuming they’ll just show up and win again there, especially against a daunting 49ers team.

If anything, the lesson of their journey back to the Super Bowl is exactly otherwise.

For all that afflicted them along the way, the penalties and the dropped passes and the undisciplined and disorganized hazard signals, they’ve turned resolute over the last month by intensifying their focus in every way offensively and riding a defense that is among the best in the NFL.

It’s inside-out, even Bizarro, from the ways they’ve done it before in the Mahomes era, marked foremost by offensive pyrotechnics.

Now, that’s still there to be flashed, particularly in the form of the ever-ingenious Mahomes and Kelce, now the leading postseason receiver in NFL history (156 catches) after surpassing Jerry Rice (151) last week, and budding star Rashee Rice.

But the stalwart force of this team has been the defense and a certain collective persona that appeared in question as the Chiefs spent much of December openly airing grievances with each other.

Standing at the brink of unraveling, at least as it appeared from the outside looking in, the Chiefs ultimately heeded all those flashing red lights and converted their focus and energy accordingly.

Delving into how and why will be part of The Star’s coverage as we close in on the game, but Chiefs general manager Brett Veach suggested the Christmas Day fiasco/home loss to the Raiders enabled the Chiefs to push off bottom and even compelled “the whole organization to take a look in the mirror.”

What they saw was a team that Reid on Monday said had the “grit” to galvanize and maximize what it did have even during a season in which “maybe you’re not the most talented (and) maybe you’re not the fastest or quickest or whatever.”

Maybe most of all it comes from a team DNA absorbed through these years, a self-perpetuating process that somehow has only grown despite the enormous challenge of staying at the top.

In fact, that’s a challenge far more daunting than getting there in the first place and all the more impressive even as it starts to feel more ordinary.

That’s by design in the NFL, through the salary cap, revenue sharing, free agency, the nature of the draft and scheduling itself. To say nothing of how much more of a grind it becomes for a franchise facing the enviable-but-taxing task of so many shortened offseasons.

Which takes us to this:

The season will be no failure if the Chiefs can’t win, but they’re also not quite playing with house money if they want this era to mean something more than just a fleeting burst of glory in the long haul.

There’s a big difference between winning a third Super Bowl in a short time frame or not, and even more of a difference between repeating or not.

And there’s also this to consider: As Jones noted four years ago, these things are precious and rare.

While it seems the Chiefs could be in this general position perennially for a time to come, nothing stays the same.

Reid is 65. Jones more likely than not won’t be a Chief for life in the wake of the contract dispute going into this season. Kelce is 34 and has a whole new world beckoning him. Mahomes will enter the 30th year of his life when he turns 29 in September. To say nothing of numerous decisions to be made about other key impending free agents.

The window may not be closing any time soon. But as Mahomes noted the other night, none of this is to be taken for granted.

“You never know how many you’re going to get to or if you’re going to get to any,” he said. “So it truly is special.”

It’s also the only chance we know for sure that the Chiefs can set themselves apart in an entirely new way as an undisputed, no-room-for-debate dynasty.