The Kansas City Chiefs became the first team in NFL history to win consecutive Super Bowls and also get back to the Super Bowl the following season. While they were ultimately unable to threepeat when they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, they could tie the NFL record for consecutive Super Bowl appearances a year from now.
The 1990 to 1993 Buffalo Bills are the only team with four consecutive Super Bowls
Only one team in NFL history has gone to four straight Super Bowls, and the 1990s Buffalo Bills are widely regarded as the biggest chokers in NFL history despite that remarkable feat. They were the second-best team in the NFL for four straight seasons, picking themselves off the mat again and again and again despite suffering some of the worst losses in Super Bowl history. That should be celebrated, not mocked, but alas.
Prior to their Super Bowl run, the 1989 Buffalo Bills lost in the Divisional Round while the 1994 Bills ran out of gas and missed the playoffs completely. Those Bills made it to four consecutive Super Bowls, and only a handful of teams have made three.
1970s Miami Dolphins couldn’t threepeat
In 1971, the Dolphins made the Super Bowl and lost but they won consecutive Super Bowls the following two seasons, including the NFL’s lone perfect season. Their attempt at a threepeat was thwarted in the 1974 playoffs by the Oakland Raiders.
Prior to their first trip to the Super Bowl, they were 10-4 and lost in the Divisional Round in Don Shula’s first season after going 3-10-1 before his arrival.
The 2010s Patriots dynasty never went to four straight Super Bowls
With Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots went to nine Super Bowls in 18 seasons, but only managed three straight trips one time from 2016 to 2018. They were a few close games from setting the NFL record at eight straight Super Bowls! (Butterfly effect, notwithstanding.)
First, let’s talk about the three straight Super Bowls. The Patriots went win-loss-win in the final three Super Bowls with Brady/Belichick from 2016 to 2018. In 2019, they lost in the Wild Card round to the Tennessee Titans.
Before those three straight runs, though, it could have been epic. In 2015, they lost the AFC Championship Game to Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos when they couldn’t hit the tying two-point conversion with 12 seconds on the clock. Adding that Super Bowl to the mix, New England would have made five from 2014 to 2018 with two AFC Championship Game losses in 2013 and 2012. So close to the all-time run.
From 2001 to 2004, the Patriots won three Super Bowls but didn’t make the playoffs in 2002, Brady’s first full year at the helm.
Kansas City Chiefs can go to four straight in 2025
The Chiefs have been to three consecutive Super Bowls right now, but they won so many games by one score in 2024 and Travis Kelce may be retiring, so it’s fair to question whether they can make it back.
Tom Brady said during the broadcast that the reason it’s so hard to make four in a row is that you start from the bottom every year. You need to take every single step again and again and again to make it four years in a row.
If KC makes it back, they will be the second team in Super Bowl history to make four straight. It’s likely the Bills could be standing in the way, as the two teams have faced off in the playoffs four times in the last five season. Buffalo can keep their franchise record intact with a win.
Prior to this run of three consecutive Super Bowls, the Chiefs lost in the AFC Championship game to the Cincinnati Bengals following the 2021 season. Replacing that loss with a win would put KC at six straight Super Bowls and counting, but that’s not how this works. (KC also lost in the AFC Championship Game in 2018, so they were a few whiskers from seven straight already and gunning for an eighth.)
