RINGS

The Chiefs won Super Bowl IV in January 1970. 

Here was their playoff history over the next 23 years:

LOSS in 1971

LOSS in 1986

LOSS in 1990

WIN, LOSS in 1991

LOSS in 1992

WIN, WIN, LOSS in 1993

So a pretty brutal 20 year stretch of futility building up to a loss in the divisional round and a loss in the conference championship round. (For what it's worth, I have no memories from those three playoff wins.)

Here's the next 20 years:

LOSS in 1994

LOSS in 1995

LOSS in 1997

LOSS in 2003

LOSS in 2006

LOSS in 2010

LOSS in 2013

The 2003 game was the no punt game. The 2013 was the choke up 38-10 where Andrew Luck recovered a fumble and scored. 

In 2015 I got to see the Chiefs win a playoff game for the first time. It was a wild-card win over the Texans starting Brian Hoyer. I acted like it was manna from heaven. The Chiefs would then lose their next three playoff games. I'll spell it out to keep the formatting. 

WIN, LOSS in 2015

LOSS in 2016

LOSS in 2017

The loss in 2017 was to the Titans where Mariota completed a touchdown pass to himself. Mahomes was on the sideline as a rookie. 

To recap, in the stretch from 1971 to 2017, the Chiefs won 4 playoff games. They lost 16. 

4-16 in the playoffs over 46 years. That includes 30 years where they didn't make the playoffs. 

They weren't on the level of Bills Super Bowl heartbreak or Browns/Lions 0-16 futility, but they weren't that much better. 

It was very easy to go on Twitter or Reddit pre-Mahomes and see Raiders and Broncos fans shitting on the Chiefs. And when someone posts how the Chiefs have lost 7 playoff games in a row, or has never won the Lamar Hunt trophy, there's no comeback. It's #facts.

That was the world I was living in. 

And then one dude changed everything. 

As good as Reid is, he didn't turn the tide. Pre-Mahomes, Reid was 1-4 in the playoffs, presiding over the Luck choke and Mariota disaster.

Mahomes is 11-3 in the playoffs. It's so hard for players to amass winning playoff records, because unless you win the Super Bowl you're guaranteed a loss. So even getting a bye, winning the divisional round and losing in the conference championship, which is objectively pretty good, is still not a winning playoff record. 

Mahomes shifted the conversation from playoff wins to Super Bowl rings. 

The Chiefs now own THREE Lombardi Trophies. 

IV

LIV

LVII

They are now tied with the Broncos and Raiders at 3 Super Bowl wins.

The Chiefs have passed the Colts, Dolphins, Rams, Bucs, Ravens and Eagles. 

Still on zero, by the way, the Chargers, Bengals and Bills among others.

As of today, KC is tied for 7th-most rings. Here are the 6 teams that have more than 3 Lombardi Trophies: Patriots, Steelers, Cowboys, 49ers, Packers, Giants

Win one more and you tie the Packers and Giants. And you pass the Broncos and Raiders and rise to the top of the AFC West Super Bowl standings.

And yes, the Chiefs now own the Championship Belt for most recent multiple titles. To lose the belt, the Bucs or Rams would need to win before the Chiefs. Or some other team would need to win two. 

Bonus little nugget: Chiefs are currently 8th on the list of all-time win-loss records. I calculated what 10 seasons of going 12-5 would do to their win percentage. It would rise it from .546 to .570. It's not crazy to think that when Mahomes hangs it up, KC is at or near the top of that list. 

Funny thing, I haven't heard a lot of trash talk from Broncos or Raiders fans. Wonder what happened to them?