The day after a Super Bowl championship, Patrick Mahomes embraces three-peat quest
Defining a dynasty or their place in history is a task for others, Chiefs coaches and players say. They’ll focus on the ambitions they can control.
Like becoming the first NFL team to win three straight Super Bowls.
“No one’s ever done it,” Patrick Mahomes said. “We knew it was legendary to win back to back. We talked all week about it. All you can do is come back with a fresh mindset, knowing it will be even harder.”
The Chiefs are in position to become the NFL’s first team to “three-peat” after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime on Sunday in Super Bowl LVIII.
The victory follows last season’s Super Bowl triumph over the Philadelphia Eagles, and is the third in five years for the Chiefs. They beat the 49ers in the 2019 season.
Mahomes was the game’s MVP in all three victories.
A repeat Super Bowl champion has now happened nine times by eight different organizations. The Pittsburgh Steelers did it twice in the 1970s. New England — in 2003 and 2004 — was the last back-to-back Super Bowl winner.
None of the previous teams returned to the Super Bowl for a chance at a third straight.
That’s the Chiefs’ quest. A three-peat hasn’t happened in any of the North American major leagues since the Los Angeles Lakers, led by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, won three straight from 2000-02.
Baseball’s most recent three-peat is Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees from 1998-2000. The New York Islanders won four straight Stanley Cups from 1980-83.
Now, the Chiefs have won their way into a position to add to sports history.
“Yeah, that would be something,” Andy Reid said. “I just asked if anybody had won it three (straight) times. All right, we’ll see. We’ve got great competition in the AFC West. ... It’s not going to be easy. It’s not how this thing rolls.
“We’ll have change over on our team like every team has. There’s a whole lot of unexpected. You have to keep battling through it. Got to have an offseason and then good training camp. And that ball’s shaped kind of funny. It’s got to bounce right for you.”
