Patriots defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington joins Phil Perry on The Next Pats Podcast to discuss his vision for the defense this season
Rob Gronkowski knows what it takes to reach the Super Bowl and win it. In fact, he did it with two different teams.
The former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end has four Super Bowl rings, although he didn't play in the Pats' historic Super Bowl LI comeback against the Atlanta Falcons due to injury. In total, he played in five Super Bowl matchups with a 3-2 record during his 11-year NFL career.
Gronkowski's last Super Bowl title came with Tom Brady and the Bucs in the 2020 campaign, and their opponent was Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
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The Chiefs have won back-to-back Super Bowl titles entering the 2024 season, which begins Thursday night when Kansas City hosts the Baltimore Ravens at Arrowhead Stadium.
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No team has ever won three consecutive Super Bowl championships, but Gronkowski thinks the Chiefs will be the first to accomplish the feat. He's picking them to win another Lombardi Trophy this season.
"I'm going with the Kansas City Chiefs," Gronkowski said in an interview with Bleacher Report's Scott Polacek. "They're the most resilient team, they showed it over the last two years. They upgraded their team, they didn't downgrade. They bolstered their wide receiver corps. They didn't really have wide receivers last year, and they still won it all.
"Patrick Mahomes is now working with Hollywood Brown, obviously the safety valve with Travis Kelce. But then you've also got the rookie Xavier Worthy who can run and stretch the field like no other. He's got weapons now, I have to give it to them until another team shows they can compete with them for all four quarters and knock them off."
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The last team to have a chance at a three-peat was the 2005 New England Patriots, who had just beaten the Philadelphia Eagles (2004) and Carolina Panthers (2003) in the Super Bowl.
Injuries, a weaker rushing attack and a less effective defense were among the reasons why New England didn't finish the three-peat in 2005. The Patriots won the AFC East with a 10-6 record and beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Wild Card Round before losing to the Denver Broncos on the road in the Divisional Round. They didn't win another Super Bowl until the 2014 season.
The Chiefs will have a pretty good chance of winning again, though, as long as Mahomes stays healthy. He's by far the best quarterback in the sport. There are question marks on defense, but you could argue the offense will be better this season with the additions of vetean wideout Marquise "Hollywood" Brown and rookie Xavier Worthy.
The AFC is loaded with quality challengers, including the Cincinnati Bengals, who are getting franchise quarterback Joe Burrow back in the lineup after he missed most of last season with a wrist injury. But it's still hard to bet against the Chiefs. Mahomes is just that special.
