On Monday, Jan. 6, former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel, a Super Bowl champion with the New Orleans Saints, appeared on “The Facility” on Fox Sports 1 with Emmanuel Acho, LeSean McCoy, and James Jones to stake his claim on who he thinks is winning this year’s Super Bowl.
Chase Daniel Sides With the Reigning-Champion Chiefs
Daniel made the not-so-bold prediction that the Kansas City Chiefs are going to win Super Bowl 59. Daniel’s case for the Chiefs hinges on the belief that they have “been the most consistent team from the jump, and nothing’s changed.”
The Chiefs finished the regular season at 15-2, going 15-1 before pulling their starters in Week 18, and did so by winning 11 of their 15 single-digit games, five of them by three points or less. It is fairly difficult to ignore the consistency there. That said, there is an argument to be made that Kansas City may just have Lady Luck on its side.
In Week 1 against the Baltimore Ravens, the Ravens had a late touchdown overturned when Isaiah Likely had a toe on the back out-of-bounds line in the end zone. In Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Chiefs benefitted from a pass interference call on a fourth-down play that kept their final drive alive and allowed Harrison Butker to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired to win 26-25.
.@ChaseDaniel has the Chiefs as his early Super Bowl favorite heading into playoffs:
“They’ve been the most consistent team from the jump and nothing’s changed for me.” pic.twitter.com/32cYB17NA5
— The Facility (@TheFacilityFS1) January 6, 2025
However, in Week 3, the Chiefs’ defense held its ground on a 4th-and-1 play on the 13-yard line with the Falcons needing a touchdown to take the lead, the Chiefs won 22-17. No luck there; the Chiefs’ defense won that game with grit.
The rollercoaster didn’t end there. From Weeks 9-12, the Chiefs beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who forewent a potentially game-winning two-point conversion attempt and lost on the first possession of overtime, blocked a potential game-winning field goal by Wil Lutz against the Denver Broncos, hit a game-winning field goal to defeat the Carolina Panthers and recovered a botched snap against the Las Vegas Raiders in field goal range.
Even in Week 13 against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Chiefs’ offense set up a game-winning field goal attempt, as time expired, which Matthew Wright bounced off the left upright and through the goalposts to secure the Chiefs’ win.
It goes to show that the Chiefs have been consistent — but possibly consistently lucky.
The Chiefs not only are the defending Super Bowl champions but were also the NFL’s last remaining undefeated team at 9-0 before losing in Week 11 to the second-seeded Buffalo Bills.
What Is Significant About the Chiefs Winning Super Bowl 59?
The Chiefs have a unique opportunity in front of them. They are the ninth team in the Super Bowl era to have a chance at winning three straight Super Bowls.
Early in NFL history, there were a few repeat winners. The Green Bay Packers won Super Bowls 1 and 2, the Miami Dolphins won Super Bowls 7 and 8, and the Pittsburgh Steelers had two cracks at a 3-peat after winning Super Bowls 9 and 10 and 13 and 14.
It wasn’t until Joe Montana led the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowls 23 and 24 that a team won back-to-back championships. The Dallas Cowboys won back-to-back titles in the early ’90s, winning Super Bowls 27 and 28, and in the late ’90s, the Denver Broncos won two Super Bowls, 32 and 33.
Since the 2000s, only one team has had the chance to three-peat, unsurprisingly being the New England Patriots who won Super Bowls 38 and 39 in 2004 and 2005, respectively.
All of those teams have one thing in common besides winning back-to-back championships: they have all failed to win a third straight Super Bowl.
The Chiefs secured a first-round bye and in doing so have themselves one step closer, needing just three wins to secure the first three-peat in the Super Bowl era and their fourth championship in the last six years.
The Chiefs have the second-best odds in the AFC to win the Super Bowl, according to PFN’s Playoff Predictor, with an 8.1% chance of hoisting the Lombardi for the 2024-25 season, trailing just the Ravens. However, they also trail the Detroit Lions (29.2%) and Minnesota Vikings (9.2%) while splitting hairs with the Philadelphia Eagles (8.1%), potentially signaling the future Super Bowl matchup.