Sports Illustrated questioned their various NFL experts in a large-scale panel to predict Super Bowl winners for the next five seasons.
When it comes to preseason predictions for the 2019 NFL season, it’s not uncommon to see the Kansas City Chiefs listed among the handful of teams getting serious love from experts and analysts. The Chiefs are one of the teams with the best odds of making it to the Super Bowl or even winning, an incredible leap for a franchise that hasn’t been to the big game in nearly 50 years.
If you ask the panel of NFL experts at Sports Illustrated, however, just one Super Bowl win is not enough. Our friends at SI recently conducted a poll of their various writers about who they believe will win the Lombardi Trophy in the next five years. The majority of writers not only picked the Chiefs to win one of those Super Bowls but they also believe the talent is there to win more than one title in that span of time.
Mostly the ability of the Chiefs to win it all hinges on having Patrick Mahomes healthy. If the Chiefs employ the most exciting young quarterback in the game, then they should have no problem remaining as competitive as any other team in the league.
A sampling from some experts and their reasons. Here’s Mitch Goldich: :
"I think Patrick Mahomes is going to be the best in the league over the next five years, and given the other pieces around him, I put the Chiefs down for two. Most five-year stretches in Super Bowl history include a repeat winner, so I’d put my money on them."
Gary Gramling writes:
"First the Chiefs win the next two Super Bowls with Mahomes on that artificially cheap rookie deal and the defense getting reimagined this offseason."
Another writer who predicts two Super Bowls for K.C. in the next five years is Jonathan Jones:
"It’s impossible for me to look at Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid and not think they won’t at least get to the Super Bowl a handful of times in the next eight years."
Kalyn Kahler follows suit:
"Kansas City will ride the arm of Patrick Mahomes and a new defensive coordinator in Steve Spagnuolo to at least two Super Bowl wins in the five years."
These certainly aren’t the only experts predicting multiple Super Bowl wins for Andy Reid after the title game has been so elusive for the head coach. Mahomes is the big difference maker, but it should be made clear that Reid’s creativity and coaching acumen are a clear factor here as well.
As for other teams slated for future Super Bowl glory, most experts seem to agree that the young cores of the L.A. Chargers (minus Philip Rivers, of course), Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns, L.A. Rams and Chicago Bears. It’s also worth noting that several writers also believe Tom Brady has one or more Super Bowl titles in him.
Here’s hoping SI is right and that the winning starts this season. The Chiefs are focused and ready and now it’s up to them to execute on a level most people believe they can.