I will be honest about the Chiefs, because pretending would insult you. They ended my team’s seasons more than once in the Mahomes years, and I watched it happen on my own couch. So when I credit them, know it is credit, not a courtesy. Kansas City built the defining dynasty of this era and made everyone else, my team included, measure themselves against it.

Seven trips, the long wait and the modern run

The Chiefs lost the very first Super Bowl to Green Bay, then won Super Bowl IV in January 1970 with Hank Stram and Len Dawson, and then went fifty years without getting back. Patrick Mahomes ended that. They won LIV over the 49ers, lost LV to Tampa Bay, won LVII over the Eagles, and won LVIII over the 49ers in overtime. Then, chasing a third straight title in Super Bowl LIX in February 2025, they got run off the field by Philadelphia, 40-22.

The humbling, and the respect

That LIX night was the first time in a while the rest of the league got to watch the dynasty look mortal. I would lie if I said I did not feel something. But four trophies in a handful of years is the standard now, and Kansas City set it. Chiefs fans, you have lived the run the rest of us only fear. Enjoy it. It does not last forever, as February 2025 reminded everyone.