It takes a special set of circumstances for one team’s fans to want a rival franchise to win a game. This week offered one such scenario, as the Bengals needed the Chiefs to beat the Denver Broncos to potentially steal a playoff berth.
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When Kansas City played primarily backups and lost 38-0 on Sunday, Cincinnati’s fans were understandably miffed. Some of them joined Cole DeRuse’s “How bout those CHIEFS” YouTube livestream to complain about the Chiefs resting starters against the Broncos.
However, DeRuse didn’t stand for their ramblings. He told the football fans that the Bengals had nobody to blame but themselves for missing the postseason.
“You shouldn’t have to rely on other teams winning to get into the playoffs. Play better. Do better. Your [poor] coaching and extremely poor defense cost Joe Burrow a borderline MVP season.”
Cincinnati (9-8) started the year 1-7 in one-possession games. One of those losses came at home to the New England Patriots (16-10) in Week 1.
The Bengals’ defense yielded 28.3 points per game across the team’s 4-8 start. Those realities reflect DeRuse’s criticisms and played a major role in Cincinnati’s season ending this weekend.
DeRuse: Bengals’ result “changed nothing” about Kansas City’s plans
Cincinnati had to knock off the Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7) on Saturday to remain in the playoff hunt. The Bengals didn’t have the prettiest performance but prevailed 19-17 to keep their postseason hopes alive. By that point, Kansas City had already revealed the intention to bench most starters versus Denver.
Essentially, the Chiefs had already made up their mind about how they’d proceed with the Broncos’ matchup before Cincinnati defeated Pittsburgh. As DeRuse put it, they didn’t rest Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones, and others to solely spite the Bengals.
“The truth is, if the Bengals would have lost to the Steelers yesterday, they would have been out of contention and the Chiefs would have [still] rested their starters. This literally changes nothing of what the Chiefs’ plans were.”
Are Kansas City’s fans sad Cincinnati isn’t in the postseason? Not at all. Joe Burrow is the only quarterback not named Tom Brady to deal Mahomes a playoff loss. And he did so on the road in the AFC Championship game. For that reason, the Chiefs would rather face almost any other team than the Bengals in the postseason.
Yes, Kansas City resting starters ruined any chance of Cincinnati making the playoffs. But the Chiefs have no obligation to act in the Bengals’ best interest, especially when it counters their own. Cincinnati’s fans can whine until the sun comes up, but Chiefs Kingdom won’t spill a single tear for Who Dey Nation.
