National Football League fans grow up watching and reading about the all-time great teams, from the Steel Curtain Steelers teams in the 1970s to Joe Montana’s 49ers of the 1980s to the Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith-led Cowboys of the 1990s. Of course, the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady Patriots of the 2000s also qualify. This article will look at the powerhouses of today and how they got where they are.
Kansas City Chiefs
If we are looking for the most dominant team of the current day, it is impossible to look at any other team before the Chiefs. Year in and year out, NFL betting lines favor the Chiefs to win the AFC and Patrick Mahomes to win MVP. Kansas City has hosted a record five consecutive AFC Championship Games, played in three Super Bowls, and won two since Mahomes took over the starting job in 2018. However, this success took time. In fact, for the first half-century Kansas City spent in the AFC West, they were arguably the worst team in the division. After the 2012 season, the Chiefs ranked last among the Broncos, Raiders, and Chargers in division championships and were tied with the Chargers with the fewest playoff appearances.
However, their fortunes changed in 2013 when Kansas City hired Andy Reid and brought in Alex Smith to play quarterback. The Chiefs made the playoffs four times in their five seasons together and won two division titles. Despite winning their first division title in six seasons in 2016, general manager Brett Veach traded up in the 2017 NFL Draft to take Patrick Mahomes, ranked by Bucky Brooks of NFL.com as the 5th best quarterback prospect in the draft.
What happened after has changed the face of the league. In Reid’s first five seasons in Kansas City, his squad was a perennial playoff team. When Mahomes took over as the starter in 2018, they immediately became annual Super Bowl favorites. Kansas City has won eight straight AFC West titles, and Mahomes has yet to play on the road in the playoffs. He has won as many MVPs (2) as he has played seasons without reaching the Super Bowl (2). They are the closest thing we have to a dynasty at the moment.
San Francisco 49ers
Fans would be hard-pressed to find a more successful franchise than the San Francisco 49ers. Having played Super Bowls in three different decades, including four Super Bowl wins in the 1980s, San Francisco had an unprecedented run in the 1980s and 1990s, winning double-digit games in 17 straight full seasons, making the playoffs in 16 of those years, led by Joe Montana, Steve Young, and Jerry Rice. However, the 2000s could have been more friendly to them, going eight straight seasons without a winning record from 2003-2010. They hired Jim Harbaugh, who immediately led the Niners on a three-year run of playoff appearances, including a trip to the Super Bowl.
However, once he left for Michigan, they again entered the wilderness. After three head coaches in three seasons, San Francisco hired Kyle Shanahan, starting another long postseason run that continues today. With quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, the 49ers posted a 38-17 record, reaching the playoffs three times. They reached the Super Bowl in 2019, losing to the Chiefs, and then reached the conference championship again in 2020.
They continued winning in 2022 despite an injury to young starter Trey Lance, with Garoppolo taking over. However, an injury to Garoppolo thrust Brock Purdy, known for being the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, into the spotlight. Nobody could have predicted what happened next. Purdy was dynamic immediately and won his first ten starts. He led the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game in his rookie season before an injury against the Eagles prevented them from reaching the Super Bowl. This season, the 49ers look as good as they have in the Shanahan era, poised to make another Super Bowl run.
Cincinnati Bengals
Like the Chiefs, Cincinnati has only recently developed a history of winning. They own the 25th-best winning percentage among NFL franchises and have never won a Super Bowl. To make matters worse, despite joining the AFC North just 21 years ago, the Baltimore Ravens nearly have as many playoff berths (14) as the Bengals have in their 54 seasons (16). This included a 14-year playoff drought between 1991 and 2004, one of the longest in league history.
However, following a 2-14 season in 2019, the Bengals struck the lottery and drafted Joe Burrow with the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. While some doubted Burrow’s abilities thanks to limited arm strength and playing time in college, he burst onto the scene in his first full year of action in 2021. Cincinnati reached the playoffs for the first time since 2015, beating Mahomes and the Chiefs. Then, in the playoffs, the 10-7 Burrow marched into Arrowhead and beat Mahomes in the AFC Championship, coming back from a 21-3 deficit. It was the Bengals first Super Bowl appearance since 1988. They returned to Arrowhead for a rematch in next season’s AFC Championship, this time falling to Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Are There Other Powerhouses Out There?
Despite the 49ers and Bengals’ recent success, the Chiefs are the biggest powerhouse in the sport. Cincinnati and San Francisco get the nod over teams like Buffalo and Philadelphia because of their consistent playoff success, but no team has had the type of success Kansas City has had for the past five years. However, the Chiefs look weaker this season, so it could be time to change the guard.