The New England Patriots, through the course of their dynasty, lost games in the playoffs all the time. Despite the 20 straight years of contention, the Pats dropped playoff games to different versions of the Broncos, Peyton Manning, and the 15 minutes of relevance Rex Ryan shepherded in New York. The Patriots' dynasty was (frankly) two separate eras with defense ruling the day for the early 2000s and Brady coming into his own eventually in his mid-thirties.
The reason why people hate Kansas City is that there hasn't yet been a break to pause the sustained success. Rewatching the defeat of Jimmy G in Super Bowl LIV, the Chiefs were down 20-10 with seven minutes to play, and within a blink of an eye, Damien Williams scored the 30th point of the game with a useless touchdown. Since the departure of Tyreek Hill, running the ball and defense has become paramount through elite drafting and scouting.
This is all obvious to anyone paying the slightest attention to Kansas City over the last two years. In fact, the majority of the league has shifted to a rush-based offense. Baltimore and Philadelphia are the most apparent cases, but Buffalo also benefitted from James Cook's emergence over the last few seasons. The two-high safety look broke the league and filled Vic Fangio's pockets.
What's been missed is that the 2024 Kansas City Chiefs could be one of the best all-time football teams and, pending New Orleans, will certify their identity as such.
"They hate us because they ain't us" is the Black American vernacular term that perfectly applies as a response to each and every one of the insolent, petulant crybabies on the Internet, including but not limited to Dave Portnoy. I am an empath though, and I remember boohooing the Brady era, but with all due respect, shut up and deal with it.
History might be made in a matter of weeks, and as football fans, we should be celebrating that unprecedented fact. It's a whole lot easier to say that as a Chiefs fan, but Nate Burleson has a sane take (for someone who took the Bills pregame)
"You are witnessing greatness and just be happy that you are alive to be there to see it." - @nateburleson pic.twitter.com/H1NnGnh6sL
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 27, 2025
With that in mind and two weeks to kill until Super Bowl LIX (something FeLIX is wildly excited about), let's have some fun with things that have already happened. The most interesting piece of history is examining why previous back-to-back champions have not completed the impossible trip around the sun:
1. 1969 Green Bay Packers

Technically, this is the NFL's first three-peat being that the Packers won the last NFL championship pre-merger with the AFL, but semantics and titles matter. The 1969 team saw Phil Bengston replace some guy named Vince Lombardi, an easy reason to not recapture similar glory.
2. 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers

After two titles with God's favorite roster, John Madden's Oakland Raiders knocked off Chuck Noll's Steelers. Those Raiders went on to win the title and remained in and around the AFC contention picture for the rest of the decade.
3. 1980 Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers are the only team to have four titles won in two fell swoops. This team, after the Broncos and Raiders, represented the AFC in the Super Bowl, returned to the mountaintop. The trip stayed temporary being that 1970s football was particularly tasking and the Steel Curtain gained some rust.
4. 1990 San Francisco 49ers

Bill Walsh and Joe Montana invented the West Coast offense and dominated the NFL with the light help of Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, and Roger Craig. The only defensive minds and players to stop such a force would have to be supernatural. Insert Parcells, Belichick, and LT.
5. 1994 Dallas Cowboys

It's pretty simple honestly. Jerry Jones fired Jimmy Johnson. The 12 wins were cool but everybody knows the most public pissing match in NFL history stole a potential record breaker from us.
6. 1999 Denver Broncos

After consecutive titles, Elway's retirement made 1999 an impossibility for the Broncos. Elway's most recent Super Bowl moment is handing the Chiefs the trophy after LVIII, so some (only some) of his sins are forgiven.
7. 2005 New England Patriots

The 2005 Patriots simply weren't as good as they were in the previous two seasons. Tedy Bruschi's unfortunate stroke played a factor in the inconsistency along with the departure of Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel as coordinators. They never reached the same level of success again. What a shame.
The Kansas City Chiefs have now officially surpassed each of the above's final stand. All of them lost in the conference title game or earlier, and now, the Chiefs have flights booked for NOLA. Throughout history, teams have been too old or the league has been too crowded for longer eras of dominance.
Until somebody beats themn, they are going to have to hate us while they ain't us.