The Kansas City Chiefs have one of the more interesting franchise journeys in NFL history. As an original AFL team, which started in Dallas, the Chiefs had championship success in the team’s early days before encountering a drought that lasted for half a century. In all of the team’s historic success, how many Super Bowl titles have the Kansas City Chiefs won?

The Kansas City Chiefs originally started off in Dallas

Lamar Hunt founded the Dallas Texans in 1960 as an original member of the American Football League (AFL). Just a couple of years after formation, the team defeated the in-state rival Houston Oilers to capture the AFL title. 

However, there was trouble brewing behind the scenes. Hunt was tired of competing with the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL. After three seasons in Dallas, Hunt relocated the Texans to Kansas City and renamed them the Chiefs. 

In 1966, Kansas City won its second AFL Championship. However, this time, since the AFL and NFL had agreed to a merger, the Chiefs advanced to face the NFL champion Green Bay Packers in the first-ever AFL-NFL World Championship Game. It would later be known as the Super Bowl. 

The Packers dominated and won Super Bowl 1 over the Chiefs, 35-10.

The Kansas City Chiefs won their first Super Bowl following the 1969 season

In 1969, the Kansas City Chiefs put together another solid season, the final AFL campaign before it fully merged with the NFL. After finishing the season 11-3, quarterback Len Dawson led the team into the playoffs for a Divisional Round matchup with the New York Jets.

After narrowly escaping with a 13-7 win over New York, the Chiefs faced the Oakland Raiders for the AFL Championship. The Raiders jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Chiefs responded with 17 unanswered the rest of the game and won 17-7. 

The Kansas City Chiefs advanced to the AFL-NFL Championship/Super Bowl 4 to take on the Minnesota Vikings. The Chiefs dominated the game, winning by a final score of 23-7 and capturing the organization’s first Super Bowl title. 

They won a second Super Bowl following the 2019 season and a third after the 2022 campaign

There have been some lean times in Kansas City since the Chiefs last won the Super Bowl. After making the 1971 NFL Playoffs, the team missed out on postseason action for 15 straight years. 

The Chiefs found regular-season success in the 1990s, reaching the playoffs seven times, but only advanced to the AFC championship once. Since the turn of the century, the club has advanced to the playoffs 12 times, including the last eight seasons.

Since 2018, when Patrick Mahomes became the full-time starting quarterback for Andy Reid and the Chiefs, the franchise has been on its most successful run dating back to the 1960s and its days in the AFL. In Mahomes’ first season under center, the club reached the AFC championship, losing to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

In 2019, Mahomes proved the previous season wasn’t a fluke as he guided the Chiefs to a 12-4 regular season and then led them to three consecutive playoff wins, including a 31-20 win in Super Bowl 54 over the San Francisco 49ers.

Kansas City returned to the Super Bowl following the 2020 season, losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Mahomes & Co. returned again following the 2022 campaign, winning the Chiefs’ third Super Bowl with a 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.