The Broncos beat the Chiefs 38-0
Paul Pierce calls it ridiculous that the Kansas City Chiefs aren’t Super Bowl favorites | Speak
Paul Pierce reacts to the Kansas City Chiefs not being named Super Bowl favorites, calling it "ridiculous." He breaks down why Kansas City remains the team to beat and discusses their chances heading into the playoffs.
Travis Kelce wants to make it clear: the Kansas City Chiefs did not lose to the Denver Broncos on purpose to keep the Cincinnati Bengals out of the playoffs.
After the Bengals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday, they needed both the Miami Dolphins and the Broncos to lose to make the playoffs.
The New York Jets ended up beating the Dolphins, but the Broncos demolished the Chiefs, winning 38-0, and eliminating the Bengals from the playoffs.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, #87, walks the sidelines in the second half against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. (Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images)
The Chiefs rested a lot of their starters in the loss, including Patrick Mahomes and Kelce, because they already had the AFC’s No. 1 seed clinched.
Jason Kelce brought up to Travis that people were alleging that the Chiefs purposely lost to the Broncos to keep the Bengals out of the playoffs during a recent episode of "New Heights."
The Chiefs star tight end vehemently denied that the team lost on purpose.
"I ain’t scared of f---ing nobody. I wanted them (Bengals) in the f---ing 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. Just give me the best teams," Travis said.
"AFC, NFC, give me all of them, Mortal Kombat style. I’ll go through every f---ing one of them just giving them my best f---ing effort. I ain’t scared of a single soul man."
Jason further egged his brother on, saying that people said the Chiefs did not want to play in "Burrowhead," which is the Bengals fans' nickname for the Chiefs' home-field, GEHA field at Arrowhead Stadium, or Cincinnati.
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Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, #87, celebrates a touchdown in front of Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen, #6, during the second half at Acrisure Stadium. (Barry Reeger-Imagn Images)
"I’ll play them at the Walmart parking lot. I don’t give a s---, we can have our own game in the offseason where we really duke it out again," Travis responded. "Listen, I love competing against the greatest. The Bengals were a fun a-- f---ing team to watch there towards the end of the season, and it’s a shame they didn’t make it in the playoffs because it would have made the playoffs that much f---ing crazier and that much more fun."
In the wake of missing the playoffs, the Bengals fired defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, a move Travis did not understand.
"I don’t know what the f--- is going on over there. That was a wild, wild move I did not see coming because I thought that, you know, from the outside, their defense was playing really f---ing good towards the end of the year," Kelce said.
"I’ve always respected the hell out of him, I’ve also respected a lot of the players on that side of the ball given who they had this year."
Kelce said he thought the Bengals were "10 times better than what their record showed" and then doubled down on the point that the Chiefs did not throw their game against Denver.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, #87, reacts after a first down during the first half against the Houston Texans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. (Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images)
"We didn’t f---ing throw any game, alright. Guys were out there competing their a-- off, trying to get a win. Unfortunately, we couldn’t put drives together. We couldn’t stop Denver, and it just wasn’t a fun game to be part of, and I’m just sitting here on the sidelines like, ‘Hey boys, don’t let this s--- ruin our f---ing mojo.’ When we got everybody rolling, and its go time we got to flip that switch and know we’re the biggest, baddest team out there," Kelce said.
The Broncos will travel to take on the No. 2-seeded Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round, while Kelce’s Chiefs will sit back and watch the opening round of the playoffs at home as they earned a first-round bye.
As for the Bengals, they are now in need of a new defensive coordinator, and have big questions coming up surrounding their star wide receivers. Tee Higgins is an impending free agent, and Ja’Marr Chase is due for a lucrative contract extension.
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Ryan Canfield is a digital production assistant for Fox News Digital.
