A franchise that played in two of the first four Super Bowls will now be playing for a Lombardi Trophy for the fourth time in five seasons.
With a victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at Las Vegas, the Kansas City Chiefs will become the first franchise since the 2003 and ’04 New England Patriots to repeat as NFL champions. That will be easier said than done against a Niners’ team that is favored to captured their sixth Super Bowl title.
Here’s a look at the Chiefs’ previous five Super Bowl contests.
Green Bay Packers 35, Kansas City Chiefs 10 (Super Bowl I)
The city was Los Angeles, California, and the site was the Coliseum. Before it was dubbed the Super Bowl, it was known as the “AFL-NFL World Championship Game.” The Green Bay Packers were the designated home team and the Kansas City Chiefs, champions of the American Football League, were the visiting club.
Although the final score indicates otherwise, it was a very competitive game for the first half. Hank Stram’s Chiefs was outscored 21-0 in the second half after trailing by four points at intermission. The Chiefs would be back three years later.
Kansas City Chiefs 23, Minnesota Vikings 7 (Super Bowl IV)
Three years being a victim of the Green Bay dynasty, the Chiefs returned to play on Super Sunday. This version of Hank Stram’s team did not even win its division in the AFL, but losing out to the 12-1-1 Oakland Raiders. Kansas City dropped both of its regular-season meeting to the Silver and Black. In the playoffs, Stram’s club dethroned the Super Bowl III champion Jets in the divisional round and then upended the Raiders in the AFL title game.
Quarterback Len Dawson was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. He connected on 12-of-17 passes for 142 yards and one score (1 interception), that TD pass a short toss to wide receiver Otis Taylor who turned it into a 46-yard score.
The real force in the postseason and on this afternoon at Tulane Stadium was a defensive unit which boasted six future Hall of Famers (Buck Buchanan, Curley Culp, Willie Lanier, Bobby Bell, Emmitt Thomas and Johnny Robinson).
Minnesota was limited to 67 yards rushing and Vikings’ quarterback Joe Kapp was pummeled. Bud Grant’s club turned over the ball five times. In their three postseason games in 1969, Kansas City allowed a total of 20 points.
Kansas City Chiefs 31, San Francisco 49ers 20 (Super Bowl LIV)
It took the franchise 50 years to get back to “Big Game.” Here were Andy Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs, led by gifted quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was the league’s MVP the previous season in 2018.
The opposition was the San Francisco 49ers, back in the Super Bowl for the first time since 2012 and looking for a sixth Lombardi Trophy. Kyle Shanahan was in his third season as the team’s head coach, and this well-balanced club had Jimmy Garoppolo behind center.
The Chiefs had made a habit of falling behind in the playoffs that year. They rallied from 24 points down to beat the Houston Texans in the divisional round, and trailed the Tennessee Titans, 17-7, in the second quarter of the AFC Championship Game before posting a 35-24 victory.
Sure enough, the Chiefs were down by 10 points, 20-10, midway through the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium in South Florida.
Mahomes would wind up throwing for 286 yards and just as many scoring passes (2) as interceptions and was named MVP. Reid’s club would score the final 21 points of the game, and the Chiefs were Super Bowl champions for the first time since 1969.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31, Kansas City Chiefs 9 (Super Bowl LV)
A year later, the Chiefs were back in the Super Bowl and put together an impressive season. They won their first four games, stumbled at home against the Raiders and then ripped off 10 consecutive victories. At 14-1 and with the top seed in the AFC playoffs wrapped up, head coach Andy Reid rested some of his starter at home against the visiting Chargers on the final Sunday of the season.
Nonetheless, the Chiefs put away the stubborn Cleveland Browns and bested the Buffalo Bills in the AFC playoffs. It was back to the Sunshine State for an encounter with the wild card Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In Week 12 of the regular season, Patrick Mahomes and wide receiver Tyreek Hill lit up the Bucs’ defense, and Kansas City held on for a 27-24 road triumph.
This second trip to Tampa would have a much different ending. Reid’s team was down starting tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz, the former going down in the AFC title game. Mahomes was sacked three times, was picked off twice and the Chiefs managed only three field goals. Kansas City actually owned an early 3-0 lead but by intermission, the reigning Super Bowl champions were down 21-6.
Buccaneers’ quarterback Tom Brady threw for 201 yards and three scores. The Kansas City defense sacked him only once and did not come up with a takeaway. It was a humbling loss for Reid, Mahomes and the franchise.
Kansas City Chiefs 38, Philadelphia Eagles 35 (Super Bowl LVII)
Andy Reid’s club kicked off the 2022 season with a victory at Arizona. Ironically, he and his squad would end the season hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in the very same building.
For the third time in four years, the Chiefs were back playing on Super Sunday. This would be a battle between the top two seeds in the respective conferences, both finishing with 14-3 records, and it featured another double-digit postseason comeback win for Andy Reid’s team – something that was a big part of their 2019 title run.
Kansas City trailed the Eagles, 24-14, at intermission and were outgained in total yards, 270-128. The Chiefs turned to the running game in the second half and wound up pushing Philadelphia’s talented defensive front around. All told Reid’s team finished the game with 158 yards on the ground, 118 of those in the second half.
With the score tied at 35-all with 5:15 to play, the Chiefs embarked on a 12-play, 66-yard march that culminated with Harrison Butker’s 27-yard field goal with eight seconds to play. Patrick Mahomes threw for 182 yards and three scores, hitting on 21-of-27 passes, and earned game Most Valuable Player honors. His 26-yard run on that final drive was arguably the most pivotal play of the contest.