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Cincinnati Bengals fans blame the Kansas City Chiefs for missing the playoffs, but Travis Kelce adamantly disputed the notion that they tanked a Week 18 game to keep out Joe Burrow and Co.
The Bengals rallied from a 4-8 start to win their final five games and maintain their playoff hopes entering the regular season’s last day. Following their Week 18 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers and a Miami Dolphins loss, Cincinnati would have captured the AFC’s final wild-card spot if Kansas City defeated the Denver Broncos.
Unfortunately for the Bengals, the Chiefs already clinched the AFC’s No. 1 seed. With no playoff ramifications, Andy Reid rested Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, and other star players in a 38-0 loss to Denver. After the blowout, some fans felt Kansas City intentionally laid an egg to keep a burgeoning rival and more dangerous threat out of the playoffs.
However, Kelce insisted otherwise on his latest New Heights podcast.
“I ain’t scared of f****** nobody,” Kelce declared. “I wanted them in the f******* playoffs.”
Had the Bengals made the playoffs as the AFC’s No. 7 seed, they would have faced the Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round with a first-round victory. The Chiefs narrowly escaped Arrowhead with a 26-25 win over the Bengals in Week 2 after a penalty set up a last-second field goal.
Along with not having to worry about Cincinnati, the top seed guarantees that Kansas City won’t play the Buffalo Bills or Baltimore Ravens until the AFC Championship Game. Yet Kelce urged the NFL not to bother re-seeding the bracket after the opening round so he can see the toughest competition possible.
“I want to slay every dragon one by one, like Mortal Kombat,” Kelce claimed. “I don’t even want this to be, we play the lowest seed. Just give me the best teams … I’ll go through every one of them, giving them my best f******* effort.”
Jason Kelce joked that Kansas City didn’t want to see the Bengals in Cincinnati or “Burrowhead,” a nickname Bengals fans gave to Arrowhead after a 2021 AFC Championship Game win. Travis replied that he’d play them anywhere, even in a Walmart parking lot.
“Listen, I love competing against the greatest,” Travis said. “The Bengals were a fun a** team to watch towards the end of the season. It’s a shame they didn’t make it in the playoffs because it would have made the playoffs that much f****** crazier and that much more fun.”
Travis called the 9-8 Bengals “10 times better than what their record showed.” While the veteran tight end rested in Week 18, he denied Kansas City tanking the matchup so Denver would make the playoffs instead.
“We didn’t f***** throw any game,” Travis insisted. “Guys were out there competing their a** off trying to get a win. It wasn’t a fun game to be a part of. And I’m just sitting here on the sideline. I’m like, ‘Hey boys, don’t let this s*** ruin our f***** mojo. It’s go time. We gotta flip that switch and know we’re the biggest, baddest team out there.’”