In just eight days, the Kansas City Chiefs will take the field in New Orleans, Louisiana with the chance to make unprecedented NFL history. In the Super Bowl era, no team has won three consecutive championships, nor has a team ever found themselves in the position to do so. That’s just one of the many ways this dynasty is so unique, and make no mistake, win or lose in Super Bowl 59 against the Philadelphia Eagles, this is a dynasty.

Along the way, there have been plenty of moments that have cemented this Kansas City’s run as one of the most iconic and successful in league history, but in particular, there are eight moments that have come to define this particular Chiefs dynasty.

Without further ado, here are those eight moments, presented in chronological order:

Andy Reid becomes 13th head coach in Chiefs franchise history

Following a successful run from 1989 to 2005 in which only the San Francisco 49ers (168-104), Pittsburgh Steelers (166-105-1) and Denver Broncos (166-106) had a better record than the Chiefs (161-110-1), Kansas City then went just 38-74 between 2006 and 2012, which was the fifth-worst mark in the NFL during that time. Following unsuccessful coaching stints for Herm Edwards, Todd Haley and Romeo Crennel, the Chiefs turned to Andy Reid on January 4th, 2013.

Now sure, the Chiefs didn’t really take off for another five years, but even before Patrick Mahomes arrived in Kansas City — more on this in a quick second — Reid led the Chiefs to a 53-27 record in his first five seasons with the franchise, a mark only bested by the New England Patriots (63-17) and Seattle Seahawks (54-25-1). The Chiefs made the postseason in four of those five seasons, and advanced to the Divisional Round twice.

Mahomes and Travis Kelce will be the two individuals who get the lion’s share of the credit for this remarkable Chiefs run, but it can’t be understated how important it is that Andy Reid is the man who has guided this franchise for the last decade. Pairing one of the most successful coaches and brilliant offensive minds in the history of professional football with a truly transcendent quarterback and tight end combo is a match made in football heaven.

Chiefs trade up, select Patrick Mahomes with 10th pick in 2017 NFL Draft 

Speaking of heaven, a draft day trade that sent a pair of 1st round picks and a 3rd round pick to Buffalo in exchange for the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft proved to be a Godsend for Kansas City. The Chiefs selected Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and the rest, as they say, is history. Two MVP’s, three Super Bowl titles and countless records later, Mahomes has already established himself as one of the best quarterbacks ever despite only having been an NFL starter for seven seasons.

Chiefs lose to New England Patriots in 2018 AFC Championship Game

Every dynasty has their origin story, and that origin story typically involves getting toppled just before reaching the mountaintop. That’s precisely what happened to the Chiefs during Mahomes’ first season as the starter in Kansas City, thanks to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. The Patriots had been two consecutive Super Bowls, but they needed to head to Kansas City and win in hostile territory in the AFC Championship Game in order to get there for a third straight year.

What resulted was one of the greatest postseason games of the century, albeit one that was slightly controversial thanks to an iffy roughing the passer penalty against Chris Jones and an offsides call on Dee Ford which extended Patriots drives. It took overtime, but New England’s championship DNA won out. Little did we know, but Kansas City’s championship DNA was on display too.

“It hurts,” Mahomes said after the loss, per Jeffri Chadiha of NFL.com. “It hurts everybody. We knew we had the opportunities in this game and this season and we put in the work. But we know this can be a building block. We know this can be something that carries us in the future. Right now, it’s the end — but hopefully, it’s just the beginning.”

It turns out, it was just the beginning for the Chiefs.

Kansas City wins first Super Bowl in 50 years  

It may seem crazy now, but not too long ago there were questions as to whether an Andy Reid-led team could win the big one. Patrick Mahomes was considered one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever live, and the Chiefs were in the midst of a 50 year championship drought.

That all changed on February 2nd, 2020, when the Chiefs overcame a 20-10 4th quarter deficit thanks to a 21-0 run over the course of just five minutes of game action. It was Kansas City’s third consecutive postseason win in which they trailed by at least 10 points at some point during the game.

Buffalo leaves 13 seconds on the clock in AFC Divisional Round

The Kansas City Chiefs are a perfect 4-0 over the Buffalo Bills in the Playoffs in the last five seasons, but none of those four wins were as dramatic, as iconic, or as representative of why the Chiefs are so damn hard to beat as their Divisional Round victory over Buffalo in January 2022. With only 13 seconds left to play, the Chiefs trailed by 3 points after Gabe Davis’ fourth touchdown of the game. Andy Reid’s message to Patrick Mahomes was simple… “When it’s grim, be the grim reaper and go get it.”

What ensued was a legend-making stretch for Mahomes, a defining accomplishment for the Chiefs — becoming the first team ever to host four consecutive Conference Championship Games — and yet another heart-breaking loss in the tortured history of the Buffalo Bills.

Chiefs reclaim Arrowhead in AFC Championship Game vs. Bengals

Josh Allen and the Bills have been Kansas City’s primary rival over the last half of a decade, but no team has gotten

under the skin of the Chiefs more than the Cincinnati Bengals. At one point, Cincinnati won three straight meetings against the Chiefs, including one in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead. That win in Kansas City prompted folks in Cincinnati to begin calling Arrowhead Stadium “Burrowhead Stadium” since quarterback Joe Burrow had gotten the better of Mahomes there.

One year later, the Chiefs and Bengals met at Arrowhead Stadium again with a Super Bowl berth on the line, and this time it was Kansas City who scored a 3-point win, which prompted Travis Kelce to deliver a three-word rallying cry that remains etched in NFL history.

Swifties join Chiefs Kingdom as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce begin dating 

I’m sure many will scoff at this moment being included here, especially when I haven’t touched on so many other moments that were pivotal in this stretch — an instant classic shootout against the Rams on Monday Night Football, the hiring of Steve Spagnuolo, Patrick Mahomes’ knee injury on a QB sneak against Denver, a comeback from 24 points down against Houston, Chad Henne’s heroics in the AFC Divisional Round against the Browns, the Tyreek Hill trade, etc. — but just bear with me here:

If we’re looking for the moments which differentiate this Chiefs dynasty from other notable dynasties in recent sports history, we can’t discount the fact that a future Pro Football Hall of Famer and the second-most accomplished player on the Chiefs roster (Travis Kelce) began dating the most famous, influential and successful music artist alive today (Taylor Swift). Love it or hate it, this relationship rocket-launched both Kelce and the Chiefs into a different stratosphere of popularity and notoriety than they would’ve been in if Swift and Kelce hadn’t begun dating.

Did the NFL overdo it with cutaways to Swift? Perhaps, though admittedly, it bothered me a whole heck of a lot less than it seemed to bother others. But that may be because, A) I enjoy Taylor Swift’s music, B) I appreciate the greatness of Travis Kelce, and C) Swift is shown on TV for less than 25 seconds per game during these 3-plus hour broadcasts. Personally, I find it far more problematic that I have to spend multiple minutes each game watching as officials take far too long to get obvious calls correct.

But hey, as T-Swift says, “The haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.”

Chiefs defeat 49ers in overtime, win second consecutive Super Bowl 

In just the second overtime game in Super Bowl history, the Chiefs prevailed over the San Francisco 49ers for the second time in five years, giving Mahomes a third Super Bowl MVP and the Chiefs their second consecutive title. It was this win that solidified the Chiefs as a no-doubt-about-it dynasty — one of only nine teams that had repeated as Super Bowl champions — and set them on the course to do the unthinkable this Sunday… three-peat.

If the Chiefs do win on Super Bowl Sunday, then we’ll need to extend this list to nine moments, because a victory over the Eagles would be the crowning achievement of a team that has already achieved so much.