Tom Brady rewrote the individual record books during his over two-decade career in the NFL. However, he also helped his New England Patriots rewrite the team record books. And one of those records was for the most consecutive division titles, a mark Brady and the Pats set with 11 straight AFC East crowns from 2009 to 2019. That record seemed untouchable, but, as is the case with many of Brady’s records, Patrick Mahomes is chasing him down with a fury.
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Mahomes and his Kansas City Chiefs clinched their 9th straight AFC West title with another shoddy win in Week 14. They now sit 12-1 after their second straight 19-17 victory over a division opponent, benefitting from a botched snap by the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 13 and a lucky doink on the game-winning field goal against the Los Angeles Chargers this past Sunday.
A DOINK FOR THE DIVISION! IT'S GOOD! @CHIEFS WIN! pic.twitter.com/RtsINqo05m
— NFL (@NFL) December 9, 2024
The Chiefs didn’t just clinch their division again, though; they did so before any other team in the league was able to do so. They have been dominant for nearly a decade, including two years in 2016 and 2017, before Mahomes flew in with his cape. But can they match or even eclipse Brady and the Patriots’ divisional dominance during the 2010s?
Tom Brady had a much weaker division than Mahomes has now
If you look closely, you’ll see that the Patriots were actually pretty darn close to winning their division for 17 years running. They also won the AFC East every year from 2003 to 2007. In 2008, Tom Brady suffered a torn ACL in Week 1. The Patriots still went 11-5 behind Matt Cassel, but they lost the division to the wild-cat Miami Dolphins, who were also 11-5. Miami won the division on the fourth tiebreaker: conference record.
Those 2008 Dolphins had completed the greatest single-season turnaround in NFL history, having gone 1-15 the previous year. Those 2007 Dolphins were a sign of the level of competition Brady and the Patriots were going to face during their 11-year streak from 2009 to 2019.
The other teams in the AFC East—the Dolphins, New York Jets, and Buffalo Bills—all went 77-99 from 2009 to 2019. That meant they were all tied for the 8th-fewest wins in the NFL over that span. The Phins and Bills also combined for zero playoff wins during that time, and the Jets have not been to the playoffs at all since 2010, the longest drought in the NFL.
We say all of that to say: The Patriots were obviously dominant, but they also had next-to-no competition in their division during their streak.
That is certainly not the case for Patrick Mahomes and his Chiefs. While they did have the pleasure of playing against some down-in-the-dumps teams during those first few years of their streak, the AFC West is shaping up to be one of the best in the league over the next few years.
The Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Chargers have righted their ships a lot quicker than expected. Both have young and exciting QBs that are going to be in the division for a while. But more importantly, they’ve also got two of the best veteran coaches in football — Sean Payton and Jim Harbaugh.
Those two men always trot out competitive teams, and both might lead their teams to the playoffs this year along with K.C. We wouldn’t be surprised if Payton or Harbaugh swiped an AFC West crown in the next few years.
And that’s all without getting into how shaky the Chiefs have looked in many of their 12 wins this season. Could that be a sign of the beginning of the end? Or is it a mere bump in the road?
