The Best of the Best - Post-Tribune

RANKING THE DYNASTIES

The Best of the Best

How do the Mahomes-era Chiefs stack up against other title runs?

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Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri connects on the game-winning field goal to beat the Rams 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI on Feb. 3, 2002, in New Orleans. It was the Pats’ first Super Bowl title. ap file

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Patriots quarterback Tom Brady hoists the Vince Lombardi Trophy after beating the Falcons in Super Bowl 51 on Feb. 5, 2017, in Houston. New England won 34-28 in overtime after trailing 28-3 in the third quarter. ap file

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Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes celebrates after beating the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11, 2024 in Las Vegas. Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group

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Jimmy Johnson, left, and Troy Aikman helped the Cowboys go from 1-15 in 1989 to Super Bowl champs by 1992. Charles Krupa/ap

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Steelers receiver Lynn Swann (88) goes up for a TD catch against the Rams during Super Bowl XIV on Jan. 20, 1980, in Pasadena, California. ap file

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49ers quarterback Joe Montana, right, and wide receiver Jerry Rice celebrate during Super Bowl XXIV against the Broncos in January 1990. ap file

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About the era: Who would have thought that the 199th overall pick in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft would be the cornerstone of the league’s greatest dynasty? But Bill Belichick, who took over as head coach of the New England Patriots that year, charted that course by selecting Michigan quarterback Tom Brady at that spot. By Feb. 3, 2002, that decision would already bear championship fruit in an upset win over the heavily favored St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. From 2001 to 2018, the Patriots would manufacture division and Super Bowl titles with unprecedented efficiency, with Brady collecting three league Most Valuable Player awards and five Super Bowl MVPs as New England totaled six world championships in that span. In all, the Pats appeared in nine Super Bowls, going 6-3. But it was the fifth crown that would elevate Brady to GOAT status, as he guided a 25-point second-half comeback to beat Matt Ryan and the Falcons 34-28 in overtime Feb. 2, 2017. Brady completed 43 of 62 passes for 466 yards and two touchdowns in a game many consider to be the best in Super Bowl history. Brady left for Tampa Bay in 2020, helping the Bucs win the Super Bowl that season.

About the era: Coach Bill Walsh made the West Coast Offense a part of league vernacular and lore throughout the 1980s with quarterback Joe Montana at the controls. George Seifert then brought the brand into the 1990s with Steve Young stepping out of Montana’s shadow with a Super Bowl title of his own in the 1994 season. If not for an upset loss to the Giants at home in the 1990 NFC Championship game, the Niners would have been sitting where the Chiefs are right now: with a chance to win three straight Super Bowl crowns. “Joe Cool,” as Montana was nicknamed, went 4-0 in Super Bowls in the 1980s, winning titles in 1981, 1984, 1988 and 1989 (a 55-10 demolishing of John Elway in Super Bowl XXIV, still a record for most points). While the offense garnered most of the publicity, it was an underrated defense led by such players as Ronnie Lott, Dwight Hicks, Charles Haley and Jack Reynolds (and don’t forget Deion Sanders in 1994) that hit hard and thrived when the lights were brightest. The Niners were a treat.

About the era: Behind the Steel Curtain defense (spearheaded by Jack Lambert, “Mean” Joe Greene, Dwight White, L.C. Greenwood, Jack Ham, Ernie Holmes and Mel Blount) and an explosive offense led by quarterback Terry Bradshaw, running back Franco Harris and wide receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, Pittsburgh won back-to-back Super Bowl titles twice, capturing crowns in 1974-75 and 1978-79. Chuck Noll achieved this success against some of the NFL’s all-time great coaches, including the Cowboys’ Tom Landry and the Dolphins’ Don Shula. The highlight of this era, however, was Harris’ “Immaculate Reception” in 1972, a play still considered the greatest in NFL history.

About the era: When Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes was selected by the Chiefs in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, many thought he was just a product of the Red Raiders’ high-tempo system, and his skillset wouldn’t translate to the pro game. In fact, the Chicago Bears traded up to draft North Carolina’s Mitchell Trubisky, who many graded as the top QB prospect that year. Well, three Super Bowl titles later and run of dominance not seen since the Brady-led Patriots, it appears the Chiefs’ top brass knew what they were doing. Mahomes is a two-time league Most Valuable Player and three-time Super Bowl MVP, and coach Andy Reid is a future Hall of Famer.

About the era: It took a “Great Train Robbery” to pull the Cowboys out of the lethargic end of the Tom Landry era, as coach Jimmy Johnson’s first season in 1989 saw America’s Team go 1-15. But by trading running back Herschel Walker to the Vikings for a haul of future picks that he used on players like Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland and Darren Woodson, Johnson quickly brought the Cowboys into contention, reaching the playoffs by the 1991 season, and winning the Super Bowl in 1992 by thrashing Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills 52-17. Behind quarterback Troy Aikman, receiver Michael Irvin and Smith, the Cowboys offense in the early 1990s was electric, and the defense was among the most talented in NFL history. If Johnson had stayed longer, the dynasty may have been higher on this list. How ’bout them Cowboys!