The Kansas City Chiefs‘ ugly loss to the Denver Broncos in the 2024 NFL regular season finale didn’t change much for the defending Super Bowl champions, but it sparked controversy. Travis Kelce, however, has strongly denied the notion of losing on purpose to prevent Joe Burrow’s Cincinnati Bengals from making the postseason.
During the latest episode of the “New Heights” podcast with his brother Jason, Kelce made it clear that no one in Kansas City is afraid of another NFL team. Therefore, he completely dismissed the idea of an intentional loss just to avoid a potential meeting with Burrow and company later this year.
“I ain’t scared of nobody!” Kelce said. “I wanted them in the playoffs! I want to slay every dragon one by one like ‘Mortal Kombat.’ I don’t even want this to be like a ‘we play the lowest seed [situation]’.
“Just give me the best teams. AFC, NFC, give me all of them ‘Mortal Kombat’ style. I’ll go through every one of them, just giving them my best effort. I ain’t scared of a single soul, man.“
Quarterback Joe Burrow #9 of the Cincinnati Bengals celebrates the Bengals overtime win against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium on January 30, 2022 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Kelce claims Chiefs wouldn’t have minded facing Bengals in the playoffs
After beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 18, the Bengals needed both the Miami Dolphins and the Denver Broncos to lose their respective games in order to clinch a Wild Card berth.
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The Fins lost to the New York Jets, but the Chiefs failed to help Cincinnati as the Broncos pulled off a commanding, 38-0 win. Andy Reid rested Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, and other Chiefs starters, but the tight end has completely denied that this had anything to do with harming the Bengals.
“I’ll play them at the Walmart parking lot,” Kelce said. “… We can have our own game in the offseason where we really duke it out again. Listen, I love competing against the greatest. The Bengals were a fun team to watch there toward the end of the season. It’s a shame they didn’t make it in the playoffs, because they would’ve made the playoffs that much crazier and that much more fun.”
Burrow’s Bengals remain the last team to beat the Chiefs in a playoff game
The Bengals were one of the few teams in the NFL to stop Kelce and company in a postseason game. On January 30, 2022, Cincinnati took down Kansas City by just three points in the AFC Championship Game, which saw the Bengals punch a ticket to Super Bowl LVI.
Joe Burrow #9 of the Cincinnati Bengals and Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs meet on the field after the AFC Championship Game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on January 29, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Before that, Tom Brady was the only quarterback to beat Mahomes in the playoffs, as the 7x Super Bowl winner did so in the 2019 AFC Championship Game with the New England Patriots before repeating the feat in Super Bowl LV with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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Burrow’s Bengals remain the last team to beat the Chiefs in a playoff game so far. Kansas City hasn’t suffered a postseason loss since the 2022 AFC Championship Game, as it went on to win the Super Bowl in 2023 and 2024.
The Chiefs, however, had their revenge against the Bengals in the 2023 AFC Championship Game, with a last-second field goal giving Mahomes and company the upper hand against Burrow’s team. Therefore, Kelce has a fair point as to why his side shouldn’t fear the Bengals.
