The Bengals needed some help from the Chiefs in their quest to make the playoffs, but their season officially ended when Kansas City rested most of its starters in a loss to the Broncos. Some NFL fans speculated they went out of their way to ensure they wouldn’t meet Cincinnati in the playoffs, but Travis Kelce emphatically shut down that conspiracy theory.
The Cincinnati Bengals found themselves facing an uphill battle in their quest to return to the postseason after getting off to a 1-4 start (the fourth year in a row where the team posted a losing record in their first five games), but they managed to crawl back into contention by heading into the final contest of the year riding a four-game winning streak.
Joe Burrow and Co. extended that run to five with a 19-17 win over the Steelers on Sunday in what was a must-win game if they wanted to remain in the playoff picture. However, their fate was ultimately out of their hands, as their hopes hinged on the result of two games that transpired on Sunday.
The Bengals needed the Dolphins to either lose to or tie with the Jets and checked that particular box when New York secured the 32-20 victory. However, they also required an assist from a Broncos squad that would punch its ticket to the playoffs with a win or a tie against the Chiefs, and Denver cruised to a 38-0 victory at home against the B-team Kansas City rolled out to give their starters a rest with the top seed in the AFC already clinched.
It’s a bit absurd to suggest the Chiefs were playing 4D chess with a move that made sense given the situation, but there were still some people who suggested they had an ulterior motive to lose to Denver in order to avoid the possibility of meeting the surging Bengals in the playoffs—a notion Travis Kelce passionately dismissed on the most recent installment of New Heights.
The tight end got the chance to address the theory after Jason raised it on the show, saying “I ain’t scared of f—king nobody” and “I wanted them in the f—king playoffs” while asserting the postseason would have been even more entertaining if they’d made the cut.
Any Team. Any Time. Anywhere.
NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!!! @audible_com pic.twitter.com/hNEfk27nlQ
— New Heights (@newheightshow) January 8, 2025
At the end of the day, Kansas City’s decision to let its best players have the day off is really an Occam’s razor situation—they had literally nothing to gain by playing them—but this should put the largely unnecessary debate to rest.
