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Longest division title streaks: Kansas City Chiefs on brink of nine in a row

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Longest division title streaks: Kansas City Chiefs on brink of nine in a row


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Each passing season seems to move the Kansas City Chiefs one step closer to matching the legacy of the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era.

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Kansas City could clinch a ninth straight divisional title with a win over the Los Angeles Chargers on “Sunday Night Football.” Should they clinch on Sunday night, or at any point down the stretch, they’ll be within arm’s reach of the Patriots’ all-time record.

The Chiefs already have the second-longest streak of consecutive division titles in NFL history after surpassing the 1970s Los Angeles Rams last year. But they still need to win three more in a row – including this year – to match the Patriots’ record of 11 between 2009 and 2019.

With its 11-1 record, Kansas City already holds a three-game lead over the Chargers in the AFC West headed into Sunday’s clash. Even if the Chiefs lose and their lead shrinks to two games, they’ll still have four more weeks to try to clinch the title and extend their streak.

Here’s a full list of the longest division championship streaks in NFL history:

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Longest NFL division title streaks

T-4. Cleveland Browns (1950-55); Minnesota Vikings (1973-1978); Pittsburgh Steelers (1974-79)

If there’s one thing to take away from this list, it’s that it’s very hard to accomplish what the Chiefs have in the last seven or eight years, especially in the modern era.

The Browns, Vikings and Steelers all put together six-year runs of division title wins in the middle of the 20th century. Until the mid-2010s, those streaks were tied for the second-longest in NFL history.

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When the NFL substantially overhauled its scheduling system and expanded the regular season to 16 games in 1978, those streaks died shortly thereafter. No team was able to win six or more divisional titles in a row again until the Patriots hit that mark in 2014, 35 years later.

Notably, all three of these teams to earn six straight division titles relied heavily on strong defense. The Browns gave up the fewest yards and fewest points in 1953 and 1954, the first time in NFL history a team managed to do it twice in a row. The Vikings had the “Purple People Eaters” on the defensive line. The Steelers had the “Steel Curtain.”

3. Los Angeles Rams (1973-79)

Like the other teams dominating the NFL around this time, the Rams were able to win consistently because of their defense. They finished in the top three in the NFC in points allowed every year besides 1979 during this run.

Unlike some of the other dynastic teams, the Rams also wore opponents down on offense. They consistently scored over 300 points per season in a time where there were only 14 games in a season. The Rams won just one Super Bowl during their excellent run, but they held onto the record for longest divisional win streak for 35 years.

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2. Kansas City Chiefs (2016-present)

The Chiefs’ run of dominance dates back to before Patrick Mahomes came to town. Head coach Andy Reid and then-Chiefs starter Alex Smith brought Kansas City back to prominence in the mid-2010s. Then Mahomes took over in 2018, and the rest is history.

The Chiefs have found many ways to win over the last few years. They’ve had super-powered offenses help bring them championships, and when their offense took a step back, their defense stepped up and showed off how dominant it can be.

This year has been one of the strangest Chiefs seasons during this run as Kansas City continues to find the most bizarre ways to win: blocked field goals, botched snaps and game-winning drives against the Carolina Panthers, to name a few.

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If the Chiefs are able to win the AFC West looking like they have this year, there really might be nothing stopping them from reaching the levels of dominance the Patriots had over their division in the 2000s and 2010s.

1. New England Patriots (2009-2019)

Every NFL fan older than 10 years old remembers how dominant the Brady-Belichick Patriots were.

Every year, they had a defense among the best in the league. They had Brady’s consistency under center. They had a plethora of excellent pass-catching weapons from Wes Welker to Aaron Hernandez to Rob Gronkowski to Julian Edelman.

The Patriots’ streak was almost even more (seemingly) unbreakable. New England won five straight division titles from 2003-2007, but in 2008, they lost the division to the Miami Dolphins thanks to a conference record tiebreaker. If they had won the AFC East that year, they’d have won 17 in a row.

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Kansas Baseball Advances to NCAA Super Regionals After Sweeping Arkansas

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Kansas Baseball Advances to NCAA Super Regionals After Sweeping Arkansas


In the last four years, the University of Arkansas has gotten the better of the Kansas Jayhawks in postseason play.

In 2022, the Razorbacks defeated KU football 55-53 in a triple-overtime thriller in Memphis during the Liberty Bowl. A year later, No. 8 seed Arkansas upset No. 1 seed KU (and reigning college basketball champions) in the NCAA Tournament by a single point (72-71) to end Kansas basketball’s chances of a repeat. In 2025, Arkansas pulled off another upset in the Big Dance when the No. 10 seed Razorbacks defeated No. 7 KU 79-72 to advance to the Sweet 16.

Needless to say, there were plenty of Jayhawk fans hoping for revenge this weekend when Arkansas was announced as the No. 2 seed in the Lawrence Regional – and KU baseball delivered in a big way with a sweep over the Razorbacks to reach the program’s first-ever Super Regionals appearance.

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KU came from behind in both games to earn a 5-3 victory on Saturday and a 13-10 win on Sunday night at Hoglund Ballpark.

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On Saturday, Arkansas took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second before a Tyson LeBlanc RBI tied things up in the bottom of the third. Each team scored two in the fifth and remained deadlocked until KU pulled away late with a Dairel Osoria run in the seventh and a solo home run by Augusto Mungarrieta in the eighth to seal the win.

After Arkansas beat Northeastern in a narrow 10-9 contest on Sunday afternoon, KU and Arkansas met again on Sunday evening in a highly anticipated matchup that saw a lot of offensive firepower on display.

The Razorbacks jumped out to a 5-0 lead through three innings before KU had a monster performance in the top of the fourth. Osoria led things off with a solo home run before Brady Ballinger hit an RBI single to score Jordan Bach and Max Soliz Jr. had an RBI single to score Dylan Schlotterback. Then LeBlanc showed his All-American talents once again in a big moment by hitting a three-run home run to deep center field to put the Jayhawks ahead 6-5.

From there, KU would never relinquish the lead after scoring two runs in the fifth inning and three in the sixth. The Jayhawks tacked on two more in the top of the eighth to give the team its 13th score of the game.

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The Jayhawks are now 45-16 on the season – tied for the most wins in a season in program history with the 1993 team that reached the College World Series.

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KU will now move on to the Super Regionals which start Friday, June 5. If Oklahoma beats Georgia Tech tomorrow, KU will get the chance to host as they did this week. If Georgia Tech wins, the Jayhawks will head to Atlanta with a spot in the College World Series on the line.  

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Leawood’s Parkinson’s Exercise and Wellness Center expands services as diagnoses climb

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Leawood’s Parkinson’s Exercise and Wellness Center expands services as diagnoses climb


KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas, including Olathe and Lenexa. Share your story idea with Olivia.

If the motto to live by is to get 1 hour of movement a day, the Parkinson’s community in Kansas City is exceeding it.

Bob Zipse has been fighting Parkinson’s for 10 years. He said the diagnosis hit him hard.

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Leawood’s Parkinson’s Exercise and Wellness Center expands services as diagnoses climb

“I was super depressed. I mean, I was in a chair. Did you want to move? Look around, just horrible. Because there’s no resources. Where do I go with the time?”

Zipse said the disease can be an isolating experience.

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Bob Zipse

“Parkinson’s, I say, is a very lonely, lonely disease. Either people don’t want to deal with you, or you’re embarrassing.”

He found the Parkinson’s Exercise and Wellness Center at his lowest point. Now, he sees people around him pushing past their limits.

“You see people out here, they’re in the mid-70s, they’re doing push-ups, sit-ups, lifting weights. I mean, it’s amazing, really,” Zipse said. “In here, we’re all the same.”

Sarissa Curry founded the center after seeing the power of healing through exercise and recognizing that diagnosis rates were increasing. An aging population and younger diagnoses are among the biggest factors driving that trend.

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Kansas consistently ranks as having one of the highest Parkinson’s disease diagnoses and mortality rates in the United States, second only to Nebraska. According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, an estimated 20,000 people in the Kansas City metro alone are living with the disease.

“You see your neurologist once every six months to a year, and you see a physical therapist maybe a couple of months out of the year. Community-based programs are here every day to support this community,” Curry said.

Curry said the warning signs of rising Parkinson’s rates have been visible for years.

“They have been predicting this increase in Parkinson’s for many years. They were able to see the writing on the wall, they were able to see how the population was aging, and they knew that this was coming. We paid attention.”

She expanded the center to serve as an all-encompassing resource for people like Zipse.

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Sarissa Curry

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Sarissa Curry

“I’d hate to wager what I would have been like. Life would have stopped for me, I think. This at least gives me hope, gives me some work towards and see some benefit of it,” Zipse said.

The PEWC will host a ribbon cutting on Wednesday, June 3, at 3:30 p.m. The community is invited to attend to learn more about the center’s services and the disease as incidence rates continue to rise each year.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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Olivia Acree





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Kansas City liquor store increasing international options ahead of World Cup

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Kansas City liquor store increasing international options ahead of World Cup


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