By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Go ahead and crown the Kansas City Chiefs as the fourth NFL dynasty of the Super Bowl era.

They have joined the post-2000 New England Patriots, 1980s San Francisco 49ers and 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers in a class apart from all others. Theirs is a dynasty in progress — just getting started, perhaps. But these Chiefs have done enough to belong.

That is the big-picture takeaway from the Chiefs’ 25-22 overtime victory over the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII which delivered Kansas City its third Lombardi Trophy in only five seasons.

What makes an NFL dynasty? Patrick Mahomes- obviously, and there’s more to it than just that.

The Joe Gibbs-era Washington Redskins and early 1990s Dallas Cowboys were great, but they belong in separate categories, as we’ll explain.

The public-address announcer at Allegiant Stadium introduced the Chiefs as a “dynasty in the making” before the team ran onto the field.

For much of the game, the Chiefs played like a dynasty in the unmaking. They fumbled, wasted timeouts, incurred costly penalties and were fortunate to trail only 10-3 at halftime.

But when Kansas City had to score or else, Mahomes and the Chiefs did, just as even the most ardent 49ers fan should have expected.

Here they are, with three Super Bowl victories in five seasons, are they a dynasty?

After studying the greatest Super Bowl-era runs, the 1974-79 Steelers, 1981-94 49ers, 2001-18 Patriots and 2019-23 Chiefs emerged as the only teams fitting what I think are logical requirements for dynasty status:

After studying the greatest Super Bowl-era runs, the 1974-79 Steelers, 1981-94 49ers, 2001-18 Patriots and 2019-23 Chiefs emerged as the only teams fitting what I think are logical requirements for dynasty status:

• Winning three-plus Super Bowls over five-plus seasons
• Posting the NFL’s best regular-season winning percentage, beginning with the first Super Bowl-winning season and ending with the most recent one
• Reaching the conference championship round more than half the time during the dynasty

These benchmarks display dominant success over time.

The Chiefs to their dynastic peers in the Super Bowl era. All the relevant boxes are checked. Kansas City, like New England, has won big in the free-agency era, which complicates keeping great teams together.

For now, the Chiefs are the first team to win back-to-back Super Bowls since the 2003-04 Patriots.

If they become the first team to win three in a row, they’ll match those 1970s Steelers with four Super Bowl victories in a six-season span, leaving only the 1980s 49ers and post-2000 Patriots left to conquer.

That will take time, maybe some luck.

Mahomes did it again on the biggest stage. Just think how many Super Bowls the Chiefs will win once they get Mahomes a little more help on offense. They’ve already given him a young defense that ranked among the NFL’s top five in EPA (Expected Points Added) per play this season.

Red, yellow and white confetti falling at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas was the confirmation of their coronation. Once again, the Chiefs experienced the feeling only one team achieves in an NFL season, accomplishing a daunting objective that leads to an exhilarating sensation.

To quote Ric Flair,”Whether you like it or not, learn to love it, because it’s the best thing going. Wooooo!”