As Chiefs Make Three-Peat Attempt, Jimmy Johnson Discusses The Cowboys Three-Peat That Might've Been

NEW ORLEANS – The Kansas City Chiefs making a run at an unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl championship is one of the dominant themes of Super Bowl LIX, but it wouldn't be an issue if only Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones had been more mature.

CANTON, OH - AUGUST 05: Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and presenter Jimmie Johnson pose with Jones' bust during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium on August 5, 2017 in Canton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

Hard To Speculate On Cowboys' Fate

If these two future Hall of Famers could have contained their egos, we might today be wondering if the Chiefs might be the second three-peaters – because Johnson's Cowboys might have been the first.

"It's hard to speculate about what might have been," Johnson said on Thursday.

Yes, that's true.

But indulge us anyway.

You'll recall that the Cowboys won the Super Bowl in January of 1993.

And in January of 1994.

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UNITED STATES - JANUARY 30:  Football: Super Bowl XXVIII, Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson victorious with water bucket during game vs Buffalo Bills, Atlanta, GA 1/30/1994  (Photo by Jim Gund/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)  (SetNumber: X45656)

Johnson-Jones Feud Hurt Three-Peat Chances

But in the months following that second championship, the Cowboys' head coach and owner got into their feelings a bit too much. 

The huge egos had each of them both believing they were the key reason the Cowboys were the NFL's reigning dynasty. And after Jones said he could win with or without Johnson – to reporters, no less, in a bar at the NFL annual meeting – a divorce soon followed in March of 1994.

That practically sealed the Cowboys' chances at a three-peat. 

Jones hired Barry Switzer after the split and things just weren't the same. The Cowboys did indeed reach the NFC championship game the following season, but lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 38-28. The 49ers then routed the San Diego Chargers in the Super Bowl.

So would the Cowboys have been able to win that 1995 NFC title game against the 49ers in similar fashion to how they beat the 49ers under Johnson the season before?

And would they have won three in a row?

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Johnson: I Would Have Added Players

"I know we had an extremely talented team," Johnson added. "We had the youngest team in the NFL. And so a young team like that is going to only get better. And one thing I've always prided myself in is acquiring talent.

"And in my opinion, I would have brought in some more players."

So Johnson isn't saying his team would definitely have been the first to complete the three-peat. 

But he isn't dismissing the possibility, either.

The Cowboys came back, under Switzer, in 1996 and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to win their third Super Bowl in four years.

Pretty good. But not unprecedented.