Tom Brady achieved nearly everything imaginable in his NFL career, winning seven Super Bowl titles, three league MVPs and quarterbacking a team to an undefeated regular season.
But there’s one thing he didn’t do that one of the top challengers to his status as the most accomplished quarterback in NFL history has a chance to accomplish in 2024: three-peat. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are looking to become the first team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in a row after becoming the first team since Brady’s 2003-04 New England Patriots to repeat.
In 2005, Brady’s Patriots fell a couple of rounds short of a three-peat attempt, losing to the Denver Broncos in the divisional round. And while the Patriots made it to three straight Super Bowls between 2016-18, they lost the middle one, thwarting their chance to repeat much less three-peat.
In an interview with FS1’s “The Herd” on Monday, Brady explained the difficulties of winning just one Super Bowl and how it relates to the Chiefs’ chances of winning a third straight title.
“Even when you look at the way the Chiefs won the Super Bowl last year against the 49ers, it was an incredible comeback, so to speak. They played really well at the end and the margin of error was razor-thin,” Brady said. “That’s the way it’s going to be this year as well. It’s very rare. I played on an undefeated team. We were one of the best teams, I think, in the history of football in 2007. We go to the Super Bowl. We played less than our best game. The Giants played an awesome game and they ended up beating us. All of these teams in the NFL are very competitive, they’re all well-coached. The margin for error is razor-thin.
“So, to win one Super Bowl is extremely difficult. To win two back-to-back, what the Chiefs have done, as we know in the history of the sport, is nearly impossible. To win three in a row, there’s a reason why no one’s done it.”
Brady referenced some of the competitive disadvantages teams have to deal with when trying to win multiple titles in a row.
“To put three of those together, in back-to-back-to-back seasons, with drafting last, a very hard schedule, all of the turnover in free agency and guys continuing to be motivated, it’s a big challenge,” Brady said. “That’s not to say the Chiefs couldn’t accomplish that. Believe me, everybody would probably put them as one of the odds-on favorites to do it. Even then, there’s not a 50 percent chance of that happening. They’re way less than that. Those players are going to show up every day, they’re going to have to put in the work like they have.”
After the Patriots won their second Super Bowl in a row in 2004, they lost a few noteworthy players (Ty Law, Joe Andruzzi, Roman Phifer) and were unable to sign any impact free agents as they had to deal with the salary cap. The Chiefs were in a similar position this offseason, essentially having to pick between re-signing defensive tackle Chris Jones or cornerback L’Jarius Sneed. They opted to re-sign Jones and traded Sneed after placing him on the franchise tag. They’ve lost four other starters this offseason as well.
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Still, like those great Patriots squads with Brady and Bill Belichick, the Chiefs have a quarterback-head coach combination that should allow them to compete at a high level. Brady expects that to be the case.
“They have a tremendous coach in Andy Reid, who doesn’t ever look backward,” Brady said. “He’s not going to say, ‘Hey, because we were great last year, we’re going to be great again this year.’ He’s a veteran, experienced, championship-level coach who holds those guys accountable. They’ve got a great quarterback in Patrick, who, as we know, when he’s on the field, he’s as great a football player as there is in the NFL. Travis Kelce, what he can do at the tight end position, is really a great safety blanket. Rashee Rice came on as a rookie. [They’ve got] Chris Jones [back]. They’ve got [Steve] Spagnuolo back there as a defensive coordinator.
“They’ve got a lot of great pieces, but to win it all again is a momentous task. No one’s going to put it past them, but we’re all excited to show up and watch on opening day and see what the 2024 Chiefs can do.”
But even if you have the best quarterback in the league, Brady said the success of any football team starts up front.
“Show me a great football team that doesn’t have a great O-line,” he said.
Brady pointed to the Chiefs as the example of how to build an offensive line — after Kansas City lost to Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV.
“They really struggled up front,” Brady said. “They had lots of injuries that year. Andy Reid and Brett Veach decided to revamp that O-line, and they’ve played tremendous football. They really invested in their offensive line. Joe Thuney came on board. Last year, they signed Donovan Smith. They really revamped that offensive line. Look at the way [Isiah] Pacheco ran even though he wasn’t a high pick. Patrick could stand in there and make throws down the field.
“So they’ve got to continue to do that. All of these teams have got to make an investment in coaching the O-line and developing the O-line.”
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