And then there was one.
The Kansas City Chiefs are the NFL’s last undefeated team in the 2024 season at 6-0.
Despite K.C. not playing splendidly on offense, it marks the third time under Andy Reid that the Chiefs are the last undefeated team (also 2013 and 2017). However, it might not be the best omen, as the Chiefs lost in the Wild Card Round in each of the last two occurrences. Reid also had the 2004 Philadelphia Eagles as the last undefeated team in 2004 (started 7-0) before losing Super Bowl XXXIX to the Patriots.
Somewhat surprisingly, it’s the first time K.C. is the last undefeated team with Patrick Mahomes as the full-time starter.
Getting out to the fastest start is a good sign for making the playoffs (95.2% of 6-0 teams make the postseason), but being the last undefeated team doesn’t make them a shoo-in for lifting a Lombardi. The last undefeated team has won the Super Bowl 10 times (10/58 seasons from 1966-2023). The most recent occurrence was the 2006 Colts.
The current 17-season drought without the last undefeated team winning the Super Bowl is nearly three times as long as the previous longest (six seasons from 2000-2005), per NFL Research. The last time the final undefeated squad in a season was the reigning Super Bowl champion was in 2011 -- the Green Bay Packers under Aaron Rodgers started 13-0, finished 15-1 and lost in the Divisional Round to the New York Giants, who would go on to win the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs are the final undefeated team despite Mahomes being tied for the most interceptions in the NFL with eight. Since the 1970 merger, the only other team to start 6-0 with a QB leading the NFL in INTs through their sixth game was the 2015 Broncos with Peyton Manning. The defense-led Broncos went on to win the Super Bowl.