The two-time defending Super Bowl champions had won 15 consecutive games, before a November road game in Buffalo.
Kansas City was not only looking for a Super Bowl three-peat, but the team was also trying to set a record for longest winning streak in NFL history. The Chiefs’ streak ended at 15 games thanks to Buffalo, but it was still one of the most impressive winning streaks in recent memory, and showed just how hard it is to win double digit games in a row.
Here is where the Chiefs’ streak stacks up with the best winning streaks of all time.
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Longest NFL winning streaks
No. 1: 2003-04 New England Patriots, 21 games
The Patriots are the only team in NFL history to win more than 20 consecutive games, doing so in 2003-04. The streak included the first of back-to-back titles.
The majority of this winning streak came in 2003, when New England finished the regular season with 12 straight wins then won three more in the playoffs. The Patriots followed that up with a 6-0 start in 2004 but lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers to end that run.
No. 2: 2010-11 Green Bay Packers, 19 games
Unlike New England, the Packers’ 19-game winning streak is largely due to the team’s success after winning the Super Bowl. Green Bay won the Super Bowl by running the table as a No. 6 seed, winning six straight games that year in the regular season and postseason.
Then, the Packers opened their title defense with 13 straight wins in 2011 as the dominant team in the league, before losing to the then-5-8 Chiefs for their only loss of the season. Green Bay’s 15-1 regular season would end on a sour note: a loss to the Giants in the team’s first playoff game.
No. 3: Six teams tied, 18 games — 1933-34 Chicago Bears, 1941-42 Chicago Bears, 1972-23 Miami Dolphins, 1989-90 San Francisco 49ers, 1997-98 Denver Broncos, 2007 New England Patriots
Six teams are tied for the third-longest winning streak in league history, spanning almost 80 years. The Bears did it first, as they followed up back-to-back titles in 1932 and ’33 with a 13-0 regular season in ’34 before losing in the playoffs. Then, Chicago matched its own record in similar fashion, going 11-0 following back-to-back titles in 1940 and ’41 before again losing in the playoffs.
Of course the Miami Dolphins are on this list, as the 1972 team is lone undefeated team in league history. The Dolphins went 17-0 that year combined in the regular season and postseason, and followed up their title defense with an opening week-win before falling to the Raiders in Week 2.
In 1989, the 14-2 49ers won five straight games to end the regular season then three more to win the title. San Francisco would follow up its title defense with 10-straight wins, but lost to the Rams to end the streak.
In the middle of the Broncos back-to-back titles in 1997 and 98, Denver won 18 straight games, starting with just five-straight wins in 1997. To follow that up, the Broncos started the ’98 year with a 13-0 record, ultimately ending the season 14-2 before winning another title.
Finally, the 2007 Patriots are the only team on this list with their entire winning streak coming in one season. That infamous New England team are the only team to go 16-0 in the regular season, and they entered the Super Bowl at 18-0 including the playoffs — but lost to the Giants and failed to complete the perfect season.