The Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl champions. Patrick Mahomes & Co. beat the San Francisco 49ers, 31-20, on Sunday in Miami to win their first Super Bowl ring in 50 years.
With a 24-year-old MVP in Mahomes and an offensive guru in Andy Reid, Kansas City’s future is bright. According to the oddsmakers, the Chiefs are +600 favorites to win back-to-back Lombardi Trophy’s.
However, history is against another Chiefs Super Bowl run.
For starters, defending champions are not locks to return to the playoffs the following year. Of the previous 53 winners, 16 failed to play past Week 17. Only 25% of Super Bowl winners have returned to the title game after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy the previous season and eight won back-to-back championships.
The Patriots were the last team to accomplish the feat (Super Bowls 38 and 39). History suggests a new team will be crowned the best in the NFL in the 2020 season.
There’s always next season
This will be a tough loss for San Francisco to get over. The 49ers held a 20-10 lead in the fourth quarter, but was outscored 21-0 in the final six minutes of the game.
The Niners were outplayed down the stretch in the Super Bowl, but with Jimmy Garoppolo and one of the best defenses in football it would be foolish to count out Kyle Shanahan’s team. Bookmakers list the 49ers at +1000 to win Super Bowl 54 — one of three teams with +1000 or better odds.
The Super Bowl runner-up has performed well the next season with 34 teams winning at least 10 games and 70% of teams returning to the playoffs.
However, only eight teams to lose on Super Sunday were back the next year and just three won it all. The Patriots were the last team to lose in the title game (Super Bowl 52) only to return to the championship game the following season and avenge their loss (Super Bowl 53).
The 2020 NFL regular season starts in 221 days. Come September we will find out if the Chiefs can repeat or if the 49ers will bounce back. Using history as a guide, we will be talking about two different teams meeting in Super Bowl 55.
