When the Chiefs miss the playoffs this year, we’re going to have to discuss the fate of the dynasty, and of all dynasties. Specifically, does a single really bad year mess it up?

I’m dusting off my undergraduate European history degree to say that it DOES NOT, as dynasties in sports and in politics depend on sustained periods of victory over one’s opponents, but that does not mean the regimes are never in jeopardy. Every centuries long dynasty faces periods of famine, rebellion, international crises and so on. What measures their success is not the lack of those moments but their ability to survive them. If winning a championship every year is the only measure of a dynasty, then we’ve never had a real one in America save for maybe the 50s-60s Celtics. I think if the chiefs bounce back, they can keep their dynasty rolling… since ability to endure hardship is as much a part of dynastic packages than anything else.