Kansas City have history on the line in Super Bowl clash with Philadelphia

The Kansas City Chiefs are chasing NFL history in Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans.

Never before has a team won three Super Bowls in a row. Eight teams have won back-to-back Super Bowls, but none before the Chiefs this year even made it back to the big game the following season.

But the Chiefs, seeking a fourth Super Bowl crown in six years, have been rewriting the record books since the dream pairing of generational quarterback talent Patrick Mahomes and seasoned offensive mastermind Andy Reid came together.

This year the conversation has turned to whether the 29-year-old Mahomes might be about to eclipse Tom Brady in the discussion for greatest of all-time.

Brady won an unprecedented seven Super Bowls, but needed 21 seasons to do it. Mahomes is targeting a fourth in only his seventh season as a starting quarterback. If he gets it, he will be the first player under the age of 30 to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy for a fourth time.

Brady was also famed for his game-winning drives, pulling off 14 in 48 post-season games. Mahomes already has seven in 20 to his credit. But he deflected talk of ‘GOAT’ status this week.

“I’m just trying to be the greatest Patrick Mahomes that I can be,” he said. “That’s obviously a goal of anyone’s, to be the greatest at their profession.

“In order to do that, you have to be the greatest that you can be every single day, and if that’s on the field and the work ethic I put in or off the field in the father and husband that I am, I’m gonna try to be the greatest in that way.

“Whenever I’m done with football, if I leave everything out there the way that I feel like I have so far, as far as effort and mentality, I’ll be happy with the results and I’ll let others talk about who the greatest is of whatever profession that is.”

Mahomes is the ideal weapon for Reid, 66, to put his offensive creativity to work. But perhaps the veteran coach’s greatest achievement with the Chiefs is keeping them hungry enough to keep coming back.

Mahomes and Travis Kelce are the headline act, but a big part of this team – eight key players including cornerback Trent McDuffie, sack leader George Karlaftis and safety Bryan Cook – were drawn from the 2022 draft.

They have known nothing but Super Bowls with Kansas City, but complacency is not allowed.

“We try to focus on the game,” said Reid, who spent more than a decade with the Eagles before moving to Kansas City. “Try to keep it at that. ‘Work hard’. A lot of times when you work hard, it keeps everything focused more so than backing off. Our guys have done that.

“They do it from training camp on, and they’ve been doing it up to this week. I’ve got a good locker room on top of that. The senior veterans in there don’t let things slide. So a good locker room and great coaches help me with this.”

Beyond the hard work, the Chiefs get some celebrity glamour from Kelce and his superstar girlfriend Taylor Swift.

Kelce this week dismissed questions about whether there might be an engagement ring for Swift in New Orleans, with eyes only for another Super Bowl ring.

But the 35-year-old also dismissed retirement talk. When the Chiefs beat the Eagles 38-35 in the Super Bowl two years ago, it was dubbed the ‘Kelce Bowl’ with his brother Jason playing for Philadelphia before retiring last season. Travis is not ready to follow.

“I’ve thought about it, but I still love what I do. I love coming into work every day,” he said. “It’s moments like these, weeks like these, the month that we just had in the play-offs that make me feel like I could play this game forever.”