Travis Kelce has rubbished suggestions that the Chiefs deliberately lost to the Broncos to ensure the Bengals missed out on the NFL playoffs.
Kansas City was sensationally beaten 38-0 after resting Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and most of their starters for the final week of the regular season.
The Chiefs were 15-1 heading to Denver but their second loss ended Cincinnati’s hopes of reaching the playoffs.
The Bengals and Chiefs have shared a fierce rivalry over recent seasons, prompting some fans to speculate that Kelce, Mahomes and Co wanted to avoid facing them in the playoffs.
Joe Burrow led the Bengals to AFC Championship victory in Kansas City back in January 2022, prompting some teammates to christen Arrowhead Stadium ‘Burrowhead’.
But Kelce addressed those claims on the latest episode of New Heights. He told his brother Jason: ‘We didn’t f***ing throw any game’
Kelce insisted he wanted Cincinnati to make the playoffs, to make ‘the playoffs that much f***ing crazier and that much more fun’.
He said: ‘I ain’t scared of f***ing nobody. 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 “we play the lowest seeds”. Just give me the best teams.
‘AFC, NFC, give me all of them. Mortal Kombat style. I’ll go through every f***ing one of them just giving my best effort. I ain’t scared of a single soul.’
In reference to the Burrowhead taunts, Kelce joked: ‘I’ll play ’em at the Walmart parking lot.
‘I don’t give a s***, we can have our own game in the offseason, when we really duke it out again. Listen, I love competing against the greatest.
‘The Bengals were a fun a** f***ing team to watch towards the end of the season and it’s a shame they didn’t make it into the playoffs.’
Kelce watched on from the sideline as Kansas City ‘got their a***es kicked’ in Denver. ‘That wasn’t a fun game to be a part of,’ he said.
The tight end also warned his teammates not to let the loss dent their momentum as they chase a three-peat.
‘I’m just sitting on the sideline like: ‘Hey boys, don’t let this s*** ruin our f***ing mojo”,’ he said.
‘When we have everybody rolling, it’s go time, we have to flick that switch and know we’re the biggest, baddest team out there’
The Chiefs had already secured the No 1 seed in the AFC, meaning they receive a bye to the divisional round of the playoffs.
