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The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/rtels2023 on 2024-02-07 16:42:00.
The past three times the defending champions played in the next year’s Super Bowl, they lost every time. These instances were all 3 years apart from one another:
Seahawks win Super Bowl XLVIII, lose Super Bowl XLIX
Patriots win Super Bowl LI, lose Super Bowl LII
Chiefs win Super Bowl LIV, lose Super Bowl LV
Now it has been 3 years since that Chiefs loss, and the defending champions are back in the Super Bowl. So if the Chiefs lose to the 49ers, the pattern would continue.
Notable that this recent pattern is not indicative of all of NFL history though: overall, when defending champions make it back to the following year’s Super Bowl they have won 8 times and lost 6 times.