LANDON WASHBURN, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Photo Courtesy of Wikimeida Commons
A dynasty is a team or individual that dominates their sport or league for an extended time. Since the Kansas City Chiefs traded up to the 10th overall pick in 2017 to take the gunslinger Patrick Mahomes out of Texas Tech, they have been associated with dynasty status.
Everyone has the consensus that the best dynasty in the NFL was the Bill Belicheck-Tom Brady era with the New England Patriots from 2001-2019. Their dynasty includes appearing in 13 AFC Championship games and being crowned AFC Champions in nine of them. They claimed 17 division titles and six Super Bowl rings.
This season hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for Mahomes and the Chiefs Kingdom.
Despite starting the 2023-2024 season as the reigning Champions, people expected them to take a step back from their recent successful seasons. They came into the season having the sixth hardest strength of schedule and question marks at the wide receiver position.
This season, rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice has taken that role. This has come with growing pains. They lead the NFL in dropped passes this season with 44. If you watch the games, they ended up losing games strictly due to the mistakes from the wide receiver room.
Mahomes has a regular season record of 74-22 (.771%) and a postseason record of 14-3 (.824%). He is a two-time NFL MVP (2018, 2022) and a two-time Super Bowl MVP (2019, 2022). He is the youngest player to win a league MVP and a Super Bowl title.
Mahomes and the Chiefs have punched their ticket to a trip to the Super Bowl in four of the last five years. They have won two of the last four, and they have a chance to make it three of the last five with a victory over the uber-talented NFC in Las Vegas on Sunday – Feb. 11.
Even though they hurt themselves and had a down year, here they are again – Earning a spot in the playoffs after winning the AFC West for the eighth straight year. The Chiefs will always be a winning organization in the league if Andy Reid is on the sideline and Mahomes is throwing the ball.
Julian Edelman, a former Patriots wide receiver who played in the Belicheck-Brady era, said the Chiefs are well on their way to a dynasty.
“Gotta have three to be in the dynasty talk, and they’re well on their way,” Edelman said. “They could not win it this year and then come back and win it next year, and that’s still a dynasty.”
So what more must the Chiefs do to be considered a dynasty? Is it just one more Super Bowl ring? If Mahomes and the Chiefs continue their success, will they pass Brady and the Patriots in the “Greatest of All Time” and “best dynasty of all time” discussion?
washbulj22@bonaventure.edu
