Winning three straight Super Bowls has always been next to impossible

How difficult is it to threepeat in the NFL?

Forget the fact the Kansas City Chiefs are trying to threepeat for the first time in the Super Bowl era.

It was also hard to threepeat before the Super Bowl era.

A total of 17 have repeated in the history of the NFL, but only two teams – the 1929-31 and 1965-67 Packers –managed to threepeat. Those Packer teams also won the first two Super Bowl teams.

Many factors have stopped teams from repeating including key injuries, retirements of key players and teams growing old. For example, the Steelers of the 70s were the last team to repeat twice. The first time they went for a threepeat in 1976 they probably had their best team but lost in the AFC title game to the Raiders when both Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier were injured and couldn’t play. The second time in 1980 age caught up with them.

Here is a list of the 15 teams that have repeated over the years but didn’t threepeat.

–The Canton Bulldogs: 1922-23, They failed to get a three peat because the Cleveland owner bought the team and moved it to Cleveland in 1924. The Bulldogs started up again for two more years in 1925 and their early success led to the Hall of Fame being placed in Canton.

–Chicago Bears: 1932-33. The Bears made the title game for the third year in a row in 1934 in the famous sneakers game when the Giants trainer went to Fordham to get sneakers at halftime so they could cope with the icy field. It also cost the Bears a perfect season because they were 13-0 in the regular season. 

–Chicago Bears: 1940-41. The Bears, who beat Washington 73-0 the 1940 title game, were denied a threepeat when they lost to Washington 14-6 in the 1942 title game. Again that loss cost the Bears a perfect season as they were 11-0 in the regular season.

–Philadelphia Eagles: 1948-49: The Eagles were denied a threepeat when the Cleveland Browns entered the league in 1950, swept the Eagles and won the title.

–Detroit Lions: 1952-53. The Lions lost a threepeat when the Lions met the Browns in the title game for the third year in a row and were routed by the Browns, 56-10.

–Cleveland Browns: 1954-55. The Browns were denied a threepeat when quarterback Otto Graham retired after taking the team to 10 title games in a row, including four in the AAFC, and winning seven.

–Baltimore Colts: 1958-59. The Colts were denied a threepeat when they lost their last four games in 1960. They weren’t the same team after Alan Ameche went down in December with an Achilles injury.

–Green Bay Packers 1961-62. The Packers failed to threepeat after Paul Hornung was suspended for the 1963 season for betting on games.

–Miami Dolphins: 1972-73. The Dolphins bid for a threepeat failed when the Dolphins lost the Sea of Hands playoff game in 1974 to the Raiders. But the Dolphins likely wouldn’t have threepeated even if they beat the Raiders because the Steelers added five Hall of Famers that year to increase their total to 10. They beat the Raiders in the AFC title game and won four of the next six Super Bowls.

–Pittsburgh Steelers: 1974-75. The Steelers lost a shot at a repeat when they lost the 1976 AFC title game to the Raiders when both Franco Harris and Rocky  Bleier were hurt and they started the game with one healthy running back. They had won 10 in a row going into that game. 

–Pittsburgh Steelers: 1978-79: The Steelers lost their threepeat bid when age caught up with them in 1980 and they missed the playoffs.

–San Francisco 49ers: 1988-89. They lost a bid for a threepeat in 1990 with a loss to the Giants in the NFC title game when Roger Craig fumbled when they had the lead late in fourth quarter and were running out the clock. The Giants recovered to set up a game winning field goal by Matt Bahr and went on to win the Super Bowl.

–Dallas 1991-1993. The Cowboys lost a threepeat bid when they lost to San Francisco in the 1994 NFC title game after Jimmy Johnson quit as head coach after the 1993 season when owner Jerry Jones suggested 500 coaches could win with the Cowboys.

–Denver Broncos 1987-88: The Broncos lost their shot at a threepeat when John Elway retired after the 1998 season. But they could have repeated if they hadn’t been upset by a Jacksonville, a second year expansion team, in their first playoff game in 1996.

–New England Patriots: 2003-2004: The Patriots lost their bid for a threepeat when they lost to the Broncos in the playoffs in 2005, Tom Brady wouldn’t repeat for the rest of his career and no other team would repeat until the Chiefs did it the last two years.