There has long been debate about whether dynasties are truly ‘good for the game.’ Some go without saying — the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the Michael Jordan era may be the best thing that ever happened to the NBA, with perhaps only Bird and Magic in the running.
Others are more of an open question. Was it good for women’s basketball when UConn won four-straight titles with relative ease? Was it good for the NBA when Kevin Durant went to a 73-win team?
That question is rarely (if ever) asked of the preeminent dynasty of present day, the NFL Kansas City Chiefs. Winners of two-straight championships and three of the past five, Kansas City is now 12-1 and looking every bit the Super Bowl favorite.
There are several reasons why the Chiefs dynasty does not generate the same concern for the game as others in the recent past. To begin with, Kansas City has been at the forefront of the NFL’s ratings growth in recent seasons. That the team is tied to arguably the biggest pop stars of this era has only enhanced its drawing power. Yet, possibly the biggest strength that the Chiefs bring to the table, and that which separates them from the Durant Warriors or Breanna Stewart Huskies, is their flair for the dramatic.
After Sunday’s latest nailbiter against the Chargers, Kansas City has won 15-straight one-possession games, a streak that is as impressive as it is improbable. To win so many one-possession games in such a short amount of time indicates not only a remarkable ability in the clutch, but an unlikely run of close games.
All 13 of Kansas City’s games this season have been within a touchdown during the fourth quarter. The biggest margin was 13 points in a win over the Saints that was as close as three during the fourth. Games have been decided by a toe out of bounds, a pass interference call, a botched snap, a blocked field goal, a touchdown in overtime, and now a “doink” that bounced through. There has not been a single week this season in which Kansas City was not at least at some risk of defeat.
The Chiefs play nailbiters against their closest rivals (the Bills, Raiders and Broncos) and against the dregs of the league (the Panthers). They play nailbiters at 1 PM, at 4:25 and in primetime, on regular Sundays and on Black Friday, and any other window in between. If Kansas City is on the field, there is a good chance the game will come down to last-second heroics.
Contrast the drama of an average Chiefs game with that of “America’s team.” While the Cowboys have played a few close games this season, take note of the two-touchdown loss to Cleveland in Week 1 (in which they trailed 27-3 and 33-10), the 38-point loss to Detroit, the 28-point loss to Philadelphia, the 24-point loss to Houston — all in national windows. Dallas is coming off of back-to-back one-possession games entering Monday’s matchup with Cincinnati, but between the occasional blowouts and their sub-.500 record, “America’s team” is a distinctly inferior television product.
Then again, few teams can measure up to the Chiefs in the drama department. The Tom Brady Patriots played many memorable games, but not every week. In Brady’s final season with New England, the team started 8-0 with wins by 43, 33, 30, 26 and 21. A blowout here or there is to be expected.
Sports is above all else a television show, and understandably needs excitement and uncertainty to thrive. Most dynasties, in their very nature, lack this uncertainty. Not only is the result always the same, but the road to get there is rarely paved with drama. Not so for the Chiefs. Much like an old school TV detective show, viewers know the Chiefs will always get their man, but the intrigue is in how.
Compare that to other recent dynasties. It is true that the Durant-era Warriors were fortunate to get past Houston in the 2018 playoffs, but that was their only real test in two dominating years. Breanna Stewart and UConn faced an undefeated team in one of their four-straight national title trips, but that matchup with Notre Dame turned into a laugher. The Jeter-era Yankees played some of the most dramatic baseball ever played between 2001 and 2004, but that was at the end of their dynasty; their run of four titles in five years from 1996-2000 included a stretch of 14-straight World Series wins. The Shaq and Kobe Lakers needed everything to fall their way in the 2000 and 2002 Western Conference Finals, but their threepeat was otherwise a parade of sweeps, both real and of the gentlemen’s variety.
Perhaps the Chiefs most resemble the Jordan-era Bulls, who needed last second heroics in nearly all of their six championship runs — from John Paxson’s title-winning three in 1993 to Steve Kerr’s go-ahead jumper in 1997 to Michael Jordan’s iconic last shot (for three years, anyway) in 1998.
Still, over the course of an 82-game season, it would be impossible for the Bulls to have delivered in the drama department with the same regularity Kansas City has this season. (Even the 72-win 1996 Bulls turned in a 104-72 stinker to Jeff Van Gundy and the Knicks — in an NBC window, no less.)
Thirteen games, all of them close, nearly all of them memorable. The “Cardiac Chiefs” may be television’s most reliable source of drama, and until that changes do not expect the usual dynasty fatigue.
