Photo: The Canadian Press
The Kansas City Chiefs have ruled the AFC West since two-time MVP Patrick Mahomes was still slinging it at Texas Tech. They've won the division every year since 2016.
What the back-to-back Super Bowl champs are really out to accomplish this season, though, is something that's never been done before: a three-peat that has eluded the other seven repeat champs, including the Pittsburgh Steelers twice.
As tight end Travis Kelce celebrated the Chiefs' 25-22 win over San Francisco in Las Vegas at the last Super Bowl, his thoughts were already on the next one, in New Orleans on Feb. 9, 2025.
“How about that?” Kelce hollered. “We get a chance to do it three times in a row.”
None of the other back-to-back Super Bowl champs even made it back to the big game for a shot at a three-peat. Joe Montana and the 49ers came closest, but lost to the New York Giants 15-13 on Matt Bahr’s 42-yard field goal as time expired in the NFC championship at Candlestick Park following the 1990 season.
The NFL is the only major sports league in North America that hasn't had a back-to-back-to-back champion. The feat was last accomplished in the NBA by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2000-02, shortly after the Yankees won three straight World Series titles from 1998-2000. The last NHL team to do it was the New York Islanders in the early 1980s.
In trying to break the Chiefs' stranglehold on the AFC West, the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders both brought in new quarterbacks and the Los Angeles Chargers hired a new head coach.
Rookie Bo Nix will be the 14th different starter at quarterback in Denver since Peyton Manning retired following a triumphant Super Bowl 50 — the last time the Broncos even reached the playoffs.
Journeyman Gardner Minshew won the Raiders' QB competition and Justin Herbert has coach Jim Harbaugh calling the shots in Los Angeles. The former 49ers head coach returned to the NFL after guiding Michigan to the national title last season.
The Chiefs bring back largely the same cast led by Mahomes, Kelce, coach Andy Reid and All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones, who signed a five-year, $158.75 million contract in the offseason.
Rich get richer
The Chiefs got even better in the offseason, upgrading their wide receiver corps by signing free agents “Hollywood” Brown and Juju Smith-Schuster and drafting Xavier Worthy in the first round.
In Smith-Schuster, the Chiefs are reuniting with a veteran pass catcher who helped Kansas City beat the Eagles 38-35 in the Super Bowl two years ago.
GM Brett Veach shored up the team's greatest remaining roster weakness by signing Broncos castoff running back Samaje Perine shortly after roster cuts Tuesday.
The Broncos also had an abundance of wide receivers and three whom they let go — Tim Patrick (Lions), Brandon Johnson (Steelers) and Jalen Virgil (Bills) — were snapped up to serve on other teams' practice squads.
Poking the bear
If the Chiefs needed any fresh fire for their quest, they got it this summer from an unlikely source: Trey Taylor, the Jim Thorpe Award-winning former Air Force safety and Raiders seventh-round draft pick.
A Raiders fan attending the team’s training camp brought a Kermit the Frog puppet complete with a Mahomes wig and jersey to practice. A viral video showed Taylor laughing with the other players while placing the puppet on his right hand and speaking in a voice that sounded like both the genial green amphibian and the three-time Super Bowl winning QB.
Las Vegas coach Antonio Pierce said the team addressed the rookie clowning on Mahomes and declared, “It’s over with.”
Maybe not.
“It'll get handled when it gets handled,” Mahomes said when asked about the mockery by the Raiders rookie.
Mahomes has manhandled the Raiders, beating them 10 times in 12 tries. He's also 12-1 against Denver and 8-2 against the Raiders.
That's 30-5 against division opponents, the chief reason Kansas City has owned the AFC West for so long.
Nix is up next
Nix, the sixth quarterback selected in the top dozen picks in the NFL draft in April, beat out career backup Jarrett Stidham and 2021 second overall pick Zach Wilson to win the Broncos' starting job.
When the Broncos open at Seattle on Sept. 8, he'll become the first rookie quarterback to start a season for Denver since Hall of Famer John Elway in 1983.
Elway's debut was forgettable: He went 1 for 8 for 14 yards with an interception and four sacks before being replaced by former starter Steve DeBerg, who rallied the Broncos past the Pittsburgh Steelers 14-10.
Harbaugh and Herbert
Jim Harbaugh was quick to praise Justin Herbert for quickly picking up the new offense, but the Chargers' fifth-year quarterback's acclimation was dealt a setback with yet another injury this summer. This time, it was to the plantar fascia in his right foot that had him in a walking boot for two weeks.
Over the past two seasons, Herbert has had bruised ribs, a torn labrum to his non-throwing shoulder and two broken fingers, including one on his throwing hand that caused him to miss the final four games last season.
Harbaugh had some more praise for Herbert when the QB was among a dozen Chargers players who got stuck in an elevator for two hours at the team hotel the night before a preseason game at Dallas. Harbaugh said he saw the players as they were rescued and Herbert hadn't even broken a sweat.
Predicted order of finish
Chiefs, Broncos, Chargers, Raiders.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
