The Kansas City Chiefs have nothing to play for in the final week of the season. That's why Andy Reid made the wise decision to rest the team's starters for the regular season finale in Denver.
Other teams didn't have the same luxury heading into Week 18 and the Chiefs-Broncos game will have at least three non-Chiefs fanbases eyeing the game because of what the implications of it will be. If the Broncos win the game, Denver makes the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
If the Broncos somehow lose to Kansas City's backups and the Dolphins win their game against the Jets, they're in the playoffs. If both of those teams lose, it'd be the Bengals who get into the postseason as the seven-seed.
Bengals fans were not happy about having to root for the Chiefs in the first place but as the game was going on, they were melting down on social media and it was an absolute hoot to witness.
Chiefs fans will enjoy Bengals fans whining on social media
That one touchdown sums up the Bengals hopes. Four different players play volleyball and it winds up as a Denver TD. Next year, don't lose to New England at home (who they play at Paycor in 2025) and they're not in this position. Barring a miracle, Bengals will have to settle for…
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) January 5, 2025
This is the point that more Bengals fans should be thinking about as their team's season is about to be over. Rather than complain about the result of the final game of the season, don't be in that situation in the first place.
If there was holding on to hope, I have to imagine that double deflection TD in Denver just triggered thousands of TVs turned off in the Cincinnati area.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) January 5, 2025
Chiefs fans probably aren't thrilled to be watching their team get smacked around by the Broncos but at least it's their backups and at least it keeps the Bengals out of the postseason.
All you Cheifs fans can say they're not scared, but they should prove it on the field.
— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) January 5, 2025
You all should just root for the Broncos. Honorary Denver fans. You all love them so much.
Helping them get to the playoffs to avoid Burrow.
Someone is not handling his team missing out on the playoffs very well. Maybe the Bengals shouldn't wait until the last gasp of the season before turning on the jets.
I’m not going to call the Chiefs “scared” of the Bengals, but they would 1,000% prefer the Broncos make the playoffs over Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase & the Bengals.
— James Rapien (@JamesRapien) January 5, 2025
Buffalo, Baltimore and any other possible AFC contender feels the same way.
He's not wrong about the Chiefs preferring that Denver gets into the playoffs. That being said, why are Bengals fans acting like their team wouldn't be doing the exact same thing if the roles were reversed?
As the Broncos are beating the Chiefs, remember this:
— joshkirkendall.bsky.social (@Josh_Kirkendall) January 5, 2025
The Bengals are 7-14-1 in September during the Zac Taylor era (7-10-1 w/ Joe Burrow).
And also remember those people that said, "it's early" when the Bengals lost to the lowly Patriots, that game had a significant impact.
Finally, some common sense! It's not the Chiefs' fault that Cincinnati isn't making the playoffs, it's the Bengals' fault. Win more games next time.
Jim Nantz: "Cincinnati just ran out of weeks."
— Joe Danneman (@FOX19Joe) January 5, 2025
Again, next time, don't wait until the end of the season to look like a "Super Bowl contender". Every game matters so win as many as possible. It's not rocket science.
What we're seeing w KC is what we've seen all year. Lots of close calls, lots of wins where the media question some officiating. Nothing dominant. Take two guys out of the defense and it's a different unit.
— 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 (@BengalsCaptain) January 5, 2025
They have an uphill battle to get back to the Bowl. My pick from the AFC…
Wow, so insightful! You know who also will have a tough time getting back to the Super Bowl? The Bengals, who aren't even going to make the postseason. That's gotta be embarrassing.
At the end of the day, the Chiefs weren't trying to win this game and had no reason to try and win it. If the Bengals had a problem with how Week 18 played out, maybe they should have won more games and not had to rely on another team doing their dirty work for them. Hope Bengals fans enjoy not watching their team in the playoffs for the second straight year.