The Chiefs shouldn’t give a (bleep) about helping the Bengals make the NFL playoffs

It’s been a couple years since Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes provided a deeper peek into his life through the vehicle of a Netflix TV series.

There’s a particular scene in the show — maybe its best scene, really — that has some relevance this week. In that January 2023 clip, Mahomes is hosting friends and family for a small gathering after the Chiefs reached the AFC Championship Game, and his father asks him to predict the next opponent: Bills or Bengals?

Mahomes analyzes the matchup before someone asks the more interesting question: Who would you rather play with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line?

It’s the answer that’s revealing.

“I think we match up better versus the Bills,” Mahomes replied, before adding with a telling smile, “but I want to play the Bengals.”

As for the relevance today: Do the Chiefs have any interest in the Bengals now?

Kansas City will travel to Denver for a regular-season finale with everything already wrapped up — the Chiefs clinched the No. 1 seed and the AFC’s lone bye with a win in Pittsburgh on Christmas Day.

A meaningless Week 18 game, in that case.

Well, for the Chiefs.

Their matchup with the Broncos sure carries a lot of impact on the remainder of the AFC’s playoff picture. Which notably includes the Bengals.

In a funny twist, the Chiefs can knock the Bengals out of the postseason before the bracket is even set. All they have to do is lose the regular-season finale in Denver to ensure the Broncos reach the postseason and the Bengals stay out of it — a task made easier with Mahomes and a host of top-flight starters expected to sit out the game.

If you follow the national narrative at all, you’d be inclined to believe that’s precisely what the Chiefs should prioritize this weekend — just do everything they can to keep the Bengals out of the way because, geez, they must be nervous about the thought of playing them in the playoffs.

Huh?

That wide-spread point is missing oh-so-much context, and it sidesteps logic.

Mahomes wanted to play the Bengals in that title game two years ago, yet he and the Chiefs want to avoid them now? But why? The Bengals are a definitively worse team than they were two years ago. They might even be a worse team overall than the Broncos, who would sneak into the playoffs under a scenario that kicks the Bengals out. (The Dolphins can also get in, and actually have priority over the Bengals if the Chiefs can beat the Broncos.)

But the bigger point is this: The only avenue in which the Chiefs could face the Bengals in the playoffs is if the Bengals first upset the Bills in the Wild Card round. That would send Cincinnati on to Kansas City.

Well, you’ll take that trade-off. The Bills knocked out of the postseason early? And, uh, the Chiefs are supposed to fear that possibility?

The Chiefs starters finished the 2024 season at 15-1. The only loss is the notable part for this conversation. It came in Buffalo. Wasn’t even an upset. The Vegas market favored the Bills before the game, and it should have.

The Bills remain a better team than the Bengals. By record. By points scored. By points allowed. By offensive DVOA. By defensive DVOA. By the betting market rankings. By, well, just about everything. The Bengals defense has been atrocious this year, ranking 29th in the NFL.

This just isn’t the team that should be top of mind in having the potential to derail the Chiefs’ idea of a three-peat.

That’s not to say the Bengals couldn’t beat the Chiefs. Let me state the obvious: Of course they could. The Bengals almost won at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium earlier this season — you know, same as the Broncos, Chargers, Buccaneers and even the Raiders almost won at Arrowhead this year.

The Chiefs have not been a dominant team. They’re certainly susceptible, even if they are the favorite.

But let’s acknowledge what this is really about — the thing that Mahomes hadn’t forgotten when a buddy asked him which team he’d prefer to face two years ago.

Joe Burrow got the Chiefs once in the playoffs already. In overtime.

The narrative that the Chiefs, three seasons later, should fear the encore speaks to the rarity of beating Mahomes in the playoffs. It’s so infrequent that it’s compelled smart football minds to believe the Bengals are some sort of giant killers. Forever.

This might surprise some people, but it’s been 759 days since the Bengals beat the Chiefs in a football game. The two teams have met three times in that span.

Heck, the Chiefs have won two Super Bowls since they last lost to the Bengals. They’ve done OK.

On the verge of a quest for the first three-peat in Super Bowl era history, the Chiefs’ biggest concern shouldn’t be the opponent. Or which opponent. As they determine how to play the Broncos in the regular season finale, the Chiefs’ biggest focus should be where the rest of the league can’t help but place their focus.

On the Chiefs.