Cincinnati fans were hoping the Bengals would sneak into the playoffs this season. Unfortunately, their slim hopes were undone in Week 18 by a familiar foe: the Kansas City Chiefs. And Skip Bayless believes it was intentional.
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During the Monday afternoon episode of his YouTube show, Bayless labeled Kansas City the “apparently prideless” Chiefs. His accusation stemmed from the back-to-back Super Bowl champions laying an egg against the Denver Broncos on Sunday. In his mind, Kansas City avoided winning to prevent their biggest playoff rivals from making it to the playoffs.
“Why do I believe Andy Reid made sure his team had no chance of pulling off any kind of shocking underdog upset? Because no way did the Chiefs want to be responsible for opening the backdoor of the playoffs to Joe Burrow and the Bengals. Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid and the Chiefs are scared to death of Joe Burrow.”
Cincinnati (9-8) needed a Broncos loss to potentially steal the AFC’s No. 7 seed. Denver (10-7) officially clinched the spot – and a trip to battle the No. 2 seed Buffalo Bills – with a 38-0 trouncing of Kansas City.
The Chiefs benched many of their starters and were outgained by 174 yards (187-13) in the first quarter of the contest.
Bayless is not the first person to suggest Kansas City acted nefariously. Many X users said the Chiefs were “scared of Burrow” throughout the Broncos’ blowout victory.
However, Chiefs fans noted Reid and Co. had decided to rest players before the game became the Bengals’ playoff lifeline.
It feels as if Burrow’s history against Patrick Mahomes has been talked about a lot over the past few days. He’s the lone signal-caller outside of Tom Brady to beat Mahomes in the playoffs. He has also beaten Mahomes more times (3) than he has lost to him (2). It’d be logical for Kansas City to not want to face him with their third consecutive Super Bowl on the line.
Skip Bayless: Joe Burrow is “the best quarterback in the world”
Kansas City has rested Mahomes every time the team’s playoff seeding couldn’t change based on the regular season finale (2020, 2023, and 2024). They didn’t just do so this time to spite Burrow and/or Bengals fans. Chalking the Chiefs’ Week 18 decision solely up to Burrow’s potential presence is a bit presumptious.
Will that change the discourse? Of course not, particularly because Burrow led the league in passing yards (4,918) and passing touchdowns (43) this year. His season-long dominance led Bayless to proclaim him as the NFL’s best – and toughest – passer.
“As much as I love [and] root for Lamar Jackson. As much as I like Josh Allen, and Jalen Hurts and Matthew Stafford and Baker Mayfield, Joe Burrow is still the best quarterback in the world. An underrated pocket tap dancer and escape artist… supreme toughness. No quarterback tougher than this kid.”
The Bengals has already begun reshaping things for 2025. They fired defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and offensive line coach Frank Pollack on Monday. Linebackers coach James Betcher and defensive line coach Marion Hobby were released as well.
The defensive overhaul is no surprise given Cincinnati ranked 25th in points allowed (25.5 per game). Offensively, the Bengals posted the sixth-most points per contest (27.8).
Cincinnati scored 99 points from Weeks 10-13 but gave up 113 points and went 0-3 over that stretch. The disappointing results robbed Burrow of a legitimate chance at MVP honors and ultimately cost the Bengals their season.
