The Kansas City Chiefs are one win away from joining a very select fraternity of NFL teams. If the 9-0 Chiefs can defeat the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, they will join the 1990 San Francisco 49ers as the only teams in NFL history to start 10-0 following back-to-back Super Bowl wins.
Fresh off of the biggest blowout in a Super Bowl (a 55-10 drubbing of John Elway’s Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXIV), the 49ers won their first 10 games of the 1990 season. The 10th victory came in a 31-7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Nov. 18. Tight end Brent Jones caught each of Joe Montana’s touchdown passes that day, while future Hall of Fame pass rusher Charles Haley and former New York Giant Jim Burt each recorded two sacks of Buccaneers quarterback Chris Chandler.
The 1990 49ers came the closest to becoming the first team to win three straight Super Bowls. But they were shocked by the Giants in the 1990 NFC Championship Game in what remains one of the biggest upsets in NFL history.
New York, despite fielding a backup quarterback (Jeff Hostetler) and running back (Otis Anderson), recorded a 13-12 win on the strength of a defense that knocked Montana out of the game in the second half. With Montana out, the 49ers offense gave the Giants a chance late in the game when Giants Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor pounced on a fumble by running back Roger Craig. Hostetler then moved the Giants into field goal range, setting up Matt Bahr’s game-winning kick. New York then upset the Bills a week later to win Super Bowl XXV.
Ironically, the Bills are the team the Chiefs need to beat Sunday in order to join the 1990 49ers in NFL history. While Kansas City has often gotten the better of them, the Bills have pushed Andy Reid’s team to the limit on several occasions, including in the 2021 and 2023 divisional playoff rounds in games the Chiefs narrowly survived.
While the Chiefs continue their pursuit of history, the Bills are hoping to make history of their own. Despite getting close several times, Buffalo has yet to win the Super Bowl, a fact that Bills quarterback Josh Allen and the rest of his teammates are hoping to change this year. The Chiefs, as always, are standing in their way of achieving said goal.