The 1968 Packers couldn’t do it, but that made sense: They were already older than Old Faithful and they were going to say goodbye to Vince Lombardi. The 1974 Dolphins couldn’t do it because Kenny Stabler found Clarence Davis through a sea of Miami hands to end Don Shula’s quest, just before the WFL came along and crushed his team’s heart.
The 1976 Steelers couldn’t do it, despite allowing 28 points in the nine-game winning streak that ended their season, and by 1979, when they tried again, they had simply fallen prey to Father Time.
The 1990 49ers should have done it, but Leonard Marshall nearly sent Joe Montana to Kingdom Come, and Lawrence Taylor forced a fumble, and Matt Bahr kicked five field goals to give the Giants the win. The 1994 Cowboys lost Jimmy Johnson, the 1999 Broncos lost John Elway, and the 2005 Patriots somehow lost to Jake Plummer in Denver.
Three straight wins are a failure. Things happen. Players leave. Coaches leave. The target on the back of a team that already seemed as big as Niagara Falls when it tried to repeat the feat suddenly triples, or even quadruples, in size when it goes three straight. Three straight wins are tough in any sport; in the NFL, it’s almost a mathematical impossibility and a physical impossibility at the same time.
And yet, the Kansas City Chiefs are here.
Here they are Thursday night, beginning a mission that has never been accomplished by any of the greatest teams in sports in the 57 years since the advent of the Super Bowl. And what a way to start, winning 27-20, holding off Lamar Jackson and the ferocious Ravens by a smaller toe than Kevin Durant’s ill-fated 3-pointer a few years ago in Brooklyn.
“It’s nerve-wracking,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “What a way to start a season.”
Here’s what’s happening with the Chiefs as well:
What sets them apart from the first eight teams to try this trick is that they’re at least as good right now as they were on Feb. 11, when they walked off the Allegiant Stadium field with a 25-22 victory in Super Bowl LVIII. In fact, they might be even better, especially with electric rookie Xavier Worthy scoring two TDs, including one on his first touchdown as a pro.
“I’m going to frame them,” he said of his two match-point TDs.
What is certain is that they still have Steve Spagnuolo, who has won four Super Bowls and will lead a team that is still as fierce as ever in its quest for a fifth. They still have Andy Reid, who enters the season with 258 wins, the fourth-most of any coach ever in the NFL. And, of course, they have Mahomes.
Mahomes doesn’t turn 29 until September 17, and he’s already got three Super Bowls under his belt, two MVPs left, and he’s easily the best asset in the league. And while he’s past the point where he puts up the silly numbers of his prime, there’s still no one a team fears more than Mahomes when it comes to defending a late lead. Not Josh Allen. Not Lamar Jackson. Not Joe Burrow. Not Jalen Hurts.
“Patrick gives us a chance to win every game we play,” Reid said earlier this summer. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a game in mid-September or the last game of the season, which we always hope is the Super Bowl. We’re not a one-man team. But he’s our driving force.”
The Chiefs aren’t afraid to talk about their big ambitions. They started talking about their third straight field goal about a minute and a half after Mahomes’ 3-yard pass to Mecole Hardman with three seconds left in the first overtime of the Super Bowl. They know what’s within their reach. And that’s not all.
They really could do it.
Many others had obvious reasons why their attempts failed. Of all of them, it was the 1990 49ers who should probably feel the most regret. They started the season 10-0 and lost only twice by a total of 14 points. But the Giants had come close to beating them in a rock fight the previous season, losing 7-3 on a Monday night in early December, then finished the job with one of the greatest rock fights of all time in the NFC Championship Game.
The Chiefs looked vulnerable most of last season, then went on the road and beat the Bills in Buffalo and the Ravens in Baltimore, further enhancing their aura. So they won’t be as fixated on the standings and home court as every other team will be. They’ve shown they can take the easy route by hosting the Arrowhead January Invitational or the hard route by flying. Now they just have to prove they can do it again, one way or the other.
And they’re doing something no team in the Super Bowl era has ever done. With a 1-0 record, they’re off to a good start, or rather, a good start.
