The Cincinnati Bengals entered Christmas Day with the lowest percentage chance at reaching the playoffs out of every team remaining in the hunt. So much of their path is out of their control, and that path has now become a bit more improbable.
Along with winning their own final two games, the Bengals also need the Kansas City Chiefs to beat the Denver Broncos in Week 18. It would be much harder for that to happen if the Chiefs decide to rest most of their starters.
Kansas City now has a reason to do just that.
Chiefs' Christmas Day victory is bad news for the Bengals
The top seed in the AFC playoff bracket has now been secured by the Chiefs following their 29-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The win moves them to 15-1 on the year, a record that cannot be matched by the Buffalo Bills. The Bills can only shoot for the #2 seed in the conference with one more win.
That means the Chiefs have nothing to play for in Week 18 against Denver, while the Broncos will still be fighting for their playoff berth or seeding. The most likely course of action for Kansas City is to prevent stars like Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce from playing and getting injured in a game that ultimately won't matter.
Cincinnati still needs help from other teams as well. The Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins are still ahead of them in tiebreakers if all three teams reach nine wins. Both the Colts and Dolphins need to lose one more game, and they're both heavy favorites to win this weekend.
Both of those teams can get in over the Broncos if they're all 9-8 at the end of Week 18, which gives the Broncos even more reason to treat the Chiefs game with the upmost seriousness.
None of this matters if the Bengals don't win their final two games (starting with Saturday against the Broncos), but the Steelers beating the Chiefs would've been extremely helpful. Pittsburgh losing also keeps the AFC North title race very much alive, so the Steelers will have that to play for next week when they host Cincinnati.
The Chiefs beat the Bengals in their last playoff game back in 2023. They beat them in Week 17 last season to eliminate them from playoff contention. This win may've sealed the Bengals' fate yet again.
