Another NFL dynasty has been born.
With the Kansas City Chiefs winning their third Super Bowl in five years, it's unofficially time to crown them as a dynasty.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are joining an elite shortlist of franchises to achieve dynasty status -- and there's no sign of them slowing down in the near future.
During Tuesday's episode of "PFT Live," hosts Mike Florio and Chris Simms conducted a three-round draft of the most dominant dynasties in league history.
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There was, however, one exception to the exercise: the New England Patriots weren't allowed to be picked. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick constructed a 19-year run from 2001 to 2019 where they won six Super Bowls, made 13 AFC title games, won the AFC East 17 times and never finished with a losing record. If you're picking dominant dynasties, the discussion begins and ends with that Patriots era.
"Are we really going to pick the Patriots? Is that really even part of this? It was 20 years, obviously that was the most dominant," Simms said.
"There were two (Patriots dynasties) with a 10-year break," Florio quipped.
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"I'm not going to pick them just because I feel like it's obvious," Simms said. "OK, I'm not going to do it right now. I almost want to call this the 'Patriot Memorial Draft.'"
To begin the "Patriot Memorial Draft," Simms looked back at this year's Super Bowl loser -- the San Francisco 49ers.
"I'll go with the 49ers of the 1980s and 90s," Simms said. "Let's leave the Patriots out of it. I just look at that and in the 80s they made five NFC Championship Games and won four Super Bowls. They almost came back and beat Washington in the '83 championship game, they were on the fringe of beating the Giants in the '90 championship game. Then you go to three more in the 90s and win another Super Bowl there.
"What adds to it for me is that they really controlled all the Super Bowls other than the one in Miami against the Bengals (Super Bowl XXIII). They dominated the Dolphins, dominated the Broncos, the first matchup against the Bengals was close if I remember, but they kept control late. So, I'll go with the Niners of the 80s and 90s."
Under quarterback Joe Montana and head coach Bill Walsh, the 49ers won three Super Bowls in an eight-year stretch. When Walsh retired, they immediately added another ring to make it four titles in nine years. Montana was replaced by Steve Young and the run kept going into the 1990s, where won another Super Bowl in 1994 and made two more NFC title games.
Florio went back even farther for his first pick.
"I'm going to go with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s," Florio said. "Four Super Bowl wins between '74 and '79. That was the original true dynasty of the Super Bowl era."
Quarterback Terry Bradshaw and head coach Chuck Noll led the Steelers to four Super Bowls, five AFC title game appearances and six AFC Central division titles in six seasons from 1974 to 1979. As Florio noted, the first dynasty of the Super Bowl era belongs to Pittsburgh.
For his second pick, Simms jumped back to modern times -- hopping on the Chiefs' bandwagon.
"I know they haven't won any of these Super Bowls in a dominant way," Simms said. "But we saw the Patriots win six Super Bowls and they didn't win one in a dominant way. I'll go with the Chiefs for the mere fact that none of these teams (outside of the Patriots) went to six straight AFC Championships. None of these teams (outside of the Patriots) went to four of five Super Bowls and won three of them. That's a pretty damn special run."
Florio continued to go back in his time machine for his second pick, taking it back to the days of the AFL-NFL merger with Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers of the 1960s.
"Five championships from '61 to '67," Florio said. "I know it wasn't fully merged and it was only two Super Bowls, but the Packers were the original NFL dynasty. They were unstoppable in the '60s."
Lombardi's team lost the NFL championship in 1960 before winning back-to-back titles. They won again in 1965, then claimed the first two Super Bowls in 1966 and 1967 after the merger.
Simms, whose father Phil won two Super Bowls for the New York Giants, showed some respect for a rival with his third selection. He highlighted the 1970s Dallas Cowboys, who were perennially fighting for Super Bowls.
"What did they go in the '70s? Five Super Bowls and won two," Simms said of his final pick. "They were all over it, in there every single year, so I'll give them some love."
Despite winning just two of five Super Bowl appearances in the 1970s, Tom Landry's team was always in the mix. They had a winning record from 1966 through 1985, with their best stretch coming in the '70s (two Super Bowls, five appearances in nine years).
To round out the draft, Florio went with a surprise pick.
"Last one for me is some love for Joe Gibbs," Florio said. "Three Super Bowl wins from '82 to '91 with three different quarterbacks, and another Super Bowl appearance."
Washington's run under Gibbs is underrated because of the competition at the time, which included Montana and Young's 49ers. But the Gibbs era was unique from other dynasties in that it didn't include one quarterback leading the way. Joe Theismann was at the helm in 1982, then it was Doug Williams in 1987 and Mark Rypien in 1991.
