The Kansas City Chiefs certainly have aspirations far beyond a return to the NFL playoffs, but the reigning back-to-back champions have completed the first step of postseason success: punching their ticket to a playoff spot.

The Chiefs can’t clinch the AFC West in Week 13, but following a Thanksgiving loss from the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Friday, Kansas City is officially playoff-bound for the 10th consecutive year in head coach Andy Reid’s 12th year at the helm in KC.

When Reid arrived in 2013, the Chiefs had just completed an NFL-worst 2-14 season in 2012 that left them with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Under Reid and quarterback Alex Smith, the 2013 Chiefs returned to the playoffs before narrowly missing the postseason with a 9-7 record in 2014. In 2015, KC returned with a wild card spot. From 2016-23, the Chiefs have been AFC West division champions.

With solid 2024 campaigns from the 7-4 Los Angeles Chargers and the 7-5 Denver Broncos, KC’s ninth consecutive division title will have to wait.

Of course, Kansas City’s true quest for the record books can’t be completed until February 2025. The Chiefs’ ultimate goal is to become the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls.

Shortly after the team’s Super Bowl LVIII victory in February, Mahomes discussed the team’s quest for the three-peat.

“It’s legendary,” Mahomes said. “No one’s ever done it. We knew it’s legendary to win back-to-back. I think eight other teams had done it. We heard it all week, we’d talked to the guys about it, and we felt like we had the best opportunity we’d ever had to go out there and do that. All you can do is come back next year with a fresh mindset knowing it’s going to be even harder. We’ve got to continue to play our best football. We’ll celebrate these next few weeks, and then we’ll get right back at it.”