The new NFL season is upon us and history beckons for the Kansas City Chiefs.
After winning the past two Super Bowls, they have the chance to become the first team to win three on the bounce.
Star players Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are set to face fierce competition in the AFC Conference, however, with the long-suffering New York Jets looking to get in on the act.
After losing new quarterback Aaron Rodgers just four snaps into last year’s season opener, the Jets have bolstered their roster for the return of the NFL’s four-time Most Valuable Player.
Lamar Jackson was last season’s MVP after helping the Baltimore Ravens to the regular season’s best record, and they have brought in Derrick Henry, the league’s two-time rushing leader.
The Chiefs defeated the Ravens in the play-offs, before beating the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 58, and those teams are favourites to meet again in the NFL’s championship decider.
But two rivals in the NFC Conference hope to challenge the 49ers having picked up potential superstars in the draft.
This season the big game returns to ‘the Big Easy’ and the road to Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans starts in Kansas City on Thursday (01:20 BST Friday), with a repeat of last season’s AFC Championship game between the Chiefs and Ravens.
Chiefs chase unprecedented ‘three-peat’
At the start of last season, some still questioned whether the Chiefs were a dynasty as they were yet to win back-to-back titles.
They put an end to that debate by winning on the road during the play-offs before coming from behind to beat the 49ers in Las Vegas.
They have reached four of the past five Super Bowls, winning three. Most importantly, last season they became the first team to win consecutive titles since the New England Patriots in the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
Now the Chiefs and quarterback Mahomes can go one better with a Super Bowl ‘three-peat’, something no other NFL team has managed – not even the Patriots with Tom Brady.
In the NFL’s 104-year history, the Green Bay Packers won three straight titles from 1929-31 and 1965-67, but only the last two of those titles were in the Super Bowl era.
That makes them one of eight teams to win back-to-back Super Bowls, with three making it as far as the Conference Championship game the following season – the Pittsburgh Steelers (1976), the 49ers (1990) and the Dallas Cowboys (1996).
“I mean, there’s a reason why no-one’s ever done it,” said Brady, who makes his NFL broadcasting debut as Cleveland host Dallas on Sunday.
“I’m not saying it can’t be done. It certainly can. And the Chiefs have a great opportunity to do it. They’ve got a lot of great pieces in place.”
Fit-again Rodgers aims to lead Jets run
After luring Rodgers from Green Bay on a two-year deal last year, it was thought to be Super Bowl or bust for the Jets.
Well, last season was very much a bust as Rodgers tore his Achilles minutes into his debut. In one fell swoop, the Jets’ Super Bowl window was slashed in half. There is no guarantee that Rodgers, 40, will play next year.
The Jets already had a solid defence but have bolstered their offensive line to give Rodgers greater protection as they aim to halt the NFL’s longest active play-off drought. It stretches back to the 2010 season, when Rodgers claimed his solitary Super Bowl win with Green Bay.
Should the Jets end that grim run, they will face a whole new challenge to go all the way as the AFC Conference is stacked with potential Super Bowl contenders.
The Cincinnati Bengals are the last team to have stopped the Chiefs reaching the Super Bowl, before they lost to the Los Angeles Rams in 2022, and they have quarterback Joe Burrow back from injury.
CJ Stroud aims to follow up a fine rookie season, when he led the Houston Texans into the play-offs, while Cleveland and Baltimore have two of the NFL’s best defences.
The Ravens also led the NFL for rushing yards last season and have signed devastating running back Derrick Henry to form what could be a frightening tandem with dual-threat quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Last chance saloon for 49ers?
San Francisco have been knocking on the door. Over the past five seasons they have reached the NFC Championship game four times, booking a Super Bowl spot twice.
Yet the 49ers are still waiting for their first NFL title since 1994, so is their Super Bowl window closing?
Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams have resolved their contract issues so most of their star-studded roster remains, but they could now be drinking in the last chance saloon.
The 49ers were given a scare in last season’s play-offs by both the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, who should both improve after exceeding expectations last term.
The Philadelphia Eagles reached the Super Bowl in 2023 and looked on course for a rematch with the Chiefs before suffering a late-season slump.
They have brought in running back Saquon Barkley from the New York Giants, their divisional rivals, as they aim to regroup.
Rookies set for instant impact?
The Chicago Bears famously passed on Mahomes during the NFL draft in 2017, and traded away the first pick in 2023 to give Justin Fields another year at quarterback.
After another underwhelming season, and with this year’s draft being loaded with exciting quarterbacks, there was no way the Bears were going to miss out on Caleb Williams.
A generational talent on the field with a superstar persona off it, he could become the franchise quarterback Chicago have never had.
The Bears also had the ninth pick and added receiver Rome Odunze to give their fans hope of a swift turnaround, as the Bengals, Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars have managed in recent years.
The Washington Commanders also anticipate a change in fortunes having drafted Jayden Daniels as a record six quarterbacks were taken in the first 12 picks.
Look out for Drake Maye with the New England Patriots, although the Minnesota Vikings have lost JJ McCarthy to injury.
NFL makes its Brazilian bow
The NFL’s bid to grow the game internationally continues this season.
Schedule makers have also worked their magic to create mouth-watering match-ups for primetime TV, beginning with the season opener.
The opening weekend continues with the first regular-season game to be played in Brazil as the Eagles face the Packers in Sao Paulo on Friday (01:15 BST Saturday), while the first Monday night game (01:15 BST Tuesday) sees the Jets visit the 49ers – the team Rodgers supported as a boy and who overlooked him when they had the first pick in the 2005 draft.
There’s a Super Bowl rematch in October, a Thanksgiving triple-header, another Black Friday game, plus two games on Christmas Day.
The Brazil venture is one of five international games this season, with the NFL returning to Munich in November while there will again be three games in London in October.
There will be a match played in Spain in 2025 while Australia and Ireland are among the markets being considered for future international games.
Like last year, the Jacksonville Jaguars are playing at both Wembley and Tottenham, so former Wales rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit could make a mid-season return to the UK.
Rees-Zammit spent the summer with the Chiefs before joining the Jags’ practice squad and can be promoted to the active roster up to three times during the season.
The same goes for the other four athletes who also came through this year’s international player pathway and are now with NFL teams – Travis Clayton (Buffalo Bills), Bayron Matos (Miami Dolphins), Praise Olatoke (Carolina Panthers) and Charlie Smyth (New Orleans Saints).
