SUPER BOWL LVIII
Which NFL teams have won back-to-back Super Bowls?
The Kansas City Chiefs have joined the club of consecutive winners after their overtime victory against the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas.
Playing in - and winning - the Super Bowl has become something of a regular thing for Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Co. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in overtime at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday to win their second Super Bowl in a row and third in five years (although their first with Taylor Swift cheering them on).
Chiefs defeat 49ers at Super Bowl...again
The Chiefs had already defeated the 49ers in Miami at Super Bowl LIV (2019) and also emerged victorious in Sunday’s Nevada rematch to join a (fairly) exclusive club of back-to-back champions.
20 of the NFL’s 32 teams have had Super Bowl success at one point or another, with eight now managing to win in consecutive years, which the Chiefs previously missed the chance to do in 2020 when they were comfortably beaten by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had home advantage on that occasion.
Having “done the double” this time around, Andy Reid’s team join seven others who have also achieved the feat, although one stands out above the rest for winning back-to-back Super Bowls on two different occasions.
Packers win first two Super Bowls
The Green Bay Packers were the first ever Super Bowl winners in January 1967, defeating the Chiefs, ironically enough, 35-10 in Los Angeles. And they followed that up with another 33-14 victory 12 months later against the Oakland Raiders in Miami.
We didn’t have to wait too much longer for the next consecutive champions, the Miami Dolphins. They defeated the Washington Redskins at Super Bowl VII (1972) in Los Angeles and defended their title against the Minnesota Vikings in Houston the following year.
The Steelers - the only team to win consecutive Super Bowls twice
Then came the first of four wins for the Pittsburgh Steelers in six years, in which they completed two “doubles”. They beat the Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys at Super Bowls IX (1974) and X (1975) respectively and, after a two-year break, went back-to-back once again against the Cowboys and the LA Rams in the 1978 and 1979 seasons.
49ers still searching for sixth championship
The 49ers, who are still waiting for their sixth championship after losing to the Chiefs, were next to join the club, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in Miami at Super Bowl XXIII (1989) before defeating the Denver Broncos in New Orleans a year later.
The 1990s saw two teams win two straight end-of-season games. The Cowboys at Super Bowls XXVII (1992) and XXVIII (1993), when they had little trouble in beating the Buffalo Bills in Pasadena and Atlanta respectively.
And Super Bowl XXXII (1997) saw the Broncos win for the first time against the Packers in San Diego, which they quickly followed up by beating the Atlanta Falcons in Miami.
Brady’s Patriots win two in a row
Until Sunday, the seventh - and most recent - team to successfully defend their title was Tom Brady’s New England Patriots, who defeated the Carolina Panthers in Houston at Super Bowl XXXVIII (2003) before edging out the Philadelphia Eagles 12 months later in Jacksonville.
Back-to-back Super Bowl winners
A run of 18 Super Bowls without a repeat winner had come and gone before the Chiefs followed up their win over the Eagles 12 months ago by beating the 49ers. Having now won three championships in five years, their next objective will be to become the first team to ever win three in a row.