Good Bye, Carl -- Which Kansas City Chiefs Team was the Best in the Carl Peterson Era?

All of us Chiefs fans have our opinions about Carl Peterson-- mostly negative, but he did have a stretch of Chiefs history (1989-2008) that was considerably better than the prior stretch (1974-1988). Those lean years in between Hank Stram and Marty Schottenheimer produced only 2 winning years and 1 playoff appearance. The King Carl Era brought division titles and many playoff appearances, but brought no Super Bowl appearances. We can all agree that the Hank Stram era of 1960 to 1973 is still the greatest era of Chiefs football (1 AFL title, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Super Bowl victory). Carl's era would be a distant second, but the most recent, of course, so a buddy and I began discussing which team was the best of Carl's era. We narrowed it down to 4:

1993     11-5 record; AFC West title; AFC Championship game appearance

1995     13-3 record; AFC West title; best record in the AFC; first round loser

1997     13-3 record; AFC West title; best record in the AFC; first round loser 

2003     13-3 record; AFC West title; first round loser 

 Initially, I went with the 1997 team--Elvis Grbac was the starting QB, but he was injured for about a 1/3 of the season, so future NFL MVP Rich Gannon took over and led the team to a 5-1 record as the starter. That team included All-Pro and potential HOF TE Tony Gonzales, HOF hopeful Derrick Thomas at DE, and perhaps the best secondary in the NFL of the 90s in Dale Carter, James Hasty, Jerome Woods and Reggie Tongue. I saw this team as the most balanced of Carl's tenure, in addition to achieving a tie for the best won-loss record for a season. I consider the win over Denver at Arrowhead to secure the AFC West division title to be the most emotional and memorable win of the King Carl Era as well.

My buddy pointed out that the 1993 team, despite an inferior record to the other three teams, was the most talented and balanced, and got farther in the playoffs than any of the others. That team was led by Joe Montana and Marcus Allen, two HOFers, as well as the powerful interior line of Shields, Szott and Grunhard. He has a good argument that playoff success should swing it in this team's favor as the best of the King Carl Era. It was the only time a Carl Peterson team got to an AFC Championship game.

We both agreed that the 1995 and 2003 teams were not as good as the 1993 and 1997 teams. The 1995 team was very strong defensively, but the Steve Bono-led offense was pretty weak, and proved to be its achilles heal in the playoffs. In contrast, the 2003 team had a record-breaking offense with Trent Green, Priest Holmes and Tony G, and the special teams heroics of Dante Hall, but an incredibly weak defense that also hampered them in the playoffs.

I would love to get anyone's comments on which Chiefs team in the Peterson Era was the best-- 1993 or 1997, or throw your opinion in with the 1995 or 2003 teams if you would like. Make sure you explain why you think the team you chose is the best.