Will the Chiefs do the Steelers one better as the NFL’s first three-peat Super Bowl champions?
The Pittsburgh Steelers are the only team to win four Super Bowls in six years, but the Chiefs can match that feat today. It wouldn’t be quite the same, though. The Steelers won their Super Bowls in pairs, with two years separating them.
The Chiefs won one Super Bowl before missing out one year and losing the next. They are currently two-time defending Super Bowl champions, though, and are the first such team to make it the third year. The Steelers didn’t manage that feat back in the 1970s.
Indeed, the Chiefs are the first NFL team with a chance at a a Super Bowl three-peat. They have a tough opponent in the Philadelphia Eagles, who boast the Offensive Player of the Year, Saquon Barkley. Between the two teams, they have only lost three times all season. And both of them embarrassed the Steelers in December, but I digress.
Or do I really? Because that’s the whole point. The Eagles and Chiefs are competing in the Super Bowl, and here we are talking about the 1970s Steelers. So much of our identity as fans is tied to the events of half a century ago. Fewer and fewer people are alive to remember experiencing those times firsthand.
Meanwhile, there are Chiefs fans in kindergarten who only know what it’s like to watch Patrick Mahomes win Super Bowls. Yes, the Steelers had some success in the 2000s, winning two Super Bowls and playing in three. That’s nothing to sneeze at, and most franchises would be envious, make no mistake. But even 2008, the year of their last Super Bowl, was 17 years ago. They haven’t been to a Super Bowl in 15 years or even won a playoff game in eight years.
Historically speaking, what does it mean if the Chiefs win their third Super Bowl in a row and their fourth in six seasons? What does that do to the legacy of the Steelers’ 1970s dynasty when another claim to unique exceptionalism falls away? And does it even matter? What good are those old Lombardis doing for anybody in 2025 besides selling Rooney merchandise and winning arguments?
The Steelers’ 2024 season has come to its predictably inauspicious end, with yet another one-and-done postseason for HC Mike Tomlin. The offense faltered, and the defense matched it blow for blow, leading to a 21-0 first-half deficit.
Just like last year, the biggest question hanging over the Steelers is the quarterback question. Do they still believe in Russell Wilson, and/or Justin Fields, or do they want another solution? There are other major decisions to make, as well, such as what to do with George Pickens. Do you sign him to an extension, try to trade him, or let him play out his rookie contract?
The Steelers started the 2024 season 10-3, with Mike Tomlin in the Coach of the Year conversation. Wash, rinse, and repeat, and we have another late-season collapse. This may be the worst yet, a four-game losing streak presaging a one-and-done playoff “run”. Welcome to Steelers football.
