Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs were victorious and won three AFL championships, in 1962, 1966, and 1969, and were the second AFL team (after the New York Jets) to defeat an NFL team in a Super Bowl when they won Super Bowl IV, which was the final game before the league merger went into full effect. The Chiefs were also the second team, after the Green Bay Packers (whom they played in Super Bowl I), to appear in more than one Super Bowl (and the first AFL team to do so) and the first to appear in the championship game in two different decades. Despite this playoff success, the Chiefs failed to find success in the playoffs for decades. They only made the playoffs twice from 1970 to 1989, and managed only five other winning seasons during this time. While the Chiefs have been a contender for most of the time since the 1990s, they lost ten of twelve playoff games from 1993 to 2017, including an eight-game losing streak.

Since then, the Chiefs have risen to dynastic success under head coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce, and defensive tackle Chris Jones, appearing in five Super Bowls since 2019 and being victorious in three: LIV, LVII, and LVIII.