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Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and Co traveled to Colorado for their Week 18 matchup with little to play for and Andy Reid rested most of his big guns ahead of the postseason.
While there was little on the line for the reigning Super Bowl champions, the game did have huge implications elsewhere, with the Bengals on the outside looking in and hoping that Kansas City would do them a favor and stop the Broncos from winning.
Instead, the Broncos sealed their first playoff spot in eight years with a remarkable 38-0 victory over the Chiefs, who were 15-1 heading into the game.
The Bengals and the Chiefs have plenty of recent history, with Joe Burrow and Co beating KC at Arrowhead in the 2021 postseason their way to losing in the Super Bowl.
The following year, the Bengals again beat the Chiefs 27-24, before a remarkable game in the 2022 playoffs in which the Chiefs won after Harrison Butker kicked a 45-yard field goal with just three seconds left on the clock.
In 2023, the Bengals traveled to Arrowhead for the AFC Championship game and the build-up was dominated by trash talk, with Cincinnati cornerback Mike Hilton famously referring to the Chiefs’ stadium as ‘Burrowhead’.
At the time, Burrow was 3-0 in Kansas City, but he has since gone on to lose his last three appearances, the most recent of which an incredible 26-25 Chiefs win in September.
Fans are convinced that the Chiefs were keen to avoid a repeat of the match-up in this season’s playoffs, instead preferring the Broncos to enter the postseason.
Taking to X, former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III wrote: ‘Chiefs did everything they could to make sure the Bengals didn’t make the Playoffs. MY GAWD.’
Another fan added: ‘Chiefs knocking out the Bengals three years in a row’, while one said: ‘The Chiefs are scared of the Bengals! That’s why they rested their starters and let the Broncos win.’
Others disagreed, meanwhile, claiming that the Bengals had plenty of chances to seal their own fate, reminding others that they started the season 0-3, and then 1-5.
Trey Wingo wrote: ‘All the games count the same amount. Start better!’ in a pointed message to Cincinnati fans.
In the game in Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon, the second-string Chiefs were easily beaten with Carson Wentz as QB.
Bo Nix threw four touchdown passes and 321 yards of total offense in a remarkable display, with the Chiefs failing to score a TD for the first time this season.
The Broncos will now go on to face the Bills in Buffalo in next weekend’s Wildcard round, while the Chiefs have a bye ahead of the divisional series a week later.
Elsewhere, the Steelers take on the Ravens, and the Chargers play the Texans – with the Chiefs awaiting the winner.