Five things that stood out about the Chiefs’ blowout loss to Broncos in Denver

Minutes after the Bengals won their fifth straight game Saturday, Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor told his team to sit back and enjoy watching some football.

They probably didn’t enjoy much of it.

Particularly this result: The Broncos jumped out to a big lead early and beat the Chiefs 38-0 in the regular-season finale Sunday.

Denver thus secured the final playoff spot in the AFC, closing the door on the Bengals’ hopes for the postseason.

The Chiefs, after clinching the No. 1 seed last week, sat most of their star players — Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones, Trent McDuffie and others. As they earned the right to do. Their obligation rested with one team Sunday:

Their own.

They gave Carson Wentz his first start of the season at quarterback. Which, well, they ought to hope was his last start of the season/postseason, because it wasn’t a pretty audition. The rest of the Chiefs’ depth, as it turns out, didn’t look pretty either.

Here are five observations from immediately after the game:

1. D.J. Humphries at left tackle

There wasn’t much to like Sunday, but let’s start with the one development that actually could matter.

The Chiefs left only a few of their season-long starters in the offensive game plan, but they did start one player with the hope he could become a playoff starter.

D.J. Humphries played left tackle, a return from a hamstring injury he suffered in his first start this season.

A fine start.

A very, very rough second half.

Humphries twice outright whiffed on edge rushers in the second half. Hey, maybe he was just trying to fit in.

It’s been such a struggle protecting the Patrick Mahomes blindside this season that the Chiefs recently asked guard Joe Thuney to move outside to tackle. It looks as though they will need to ask him to do stick out there, because Humphries didn’t look ready.

The Chiefs will have two weeks to review the performance before determining their offensive line plan in the playoffs — but at this stage, asking Humphries to shift to left tackle with fewer than 100 snaps would be a risk not backed by the evidence of a reward.

2. The Chiefs’ cornerback situation

Making vast conclusions based on what we saw from the Chiefs defense is a dangerous proposition. It’s not just they played without top starters — they also played a vanilla form of defense.

Imagine how difficult it was for defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to cross all of the blitzes off his play sheet.

That’s the context of any further evaluation, and that’s coming from someone who still thought they could have put up a much better fight.

But given that context, what can we learn?

Well, cornerbacks Nazeeh Johnson and Joshua Williams are still in a battle for the No. 2 cornerback spot. And, again, under tough circumstances, Johnson struggled. He allowed six completions (on six attempts) in the first half alone. Williams did not allow any.

The regular-season finale tape alone should not determine who wins the job — and Spagnuolo has been quick all year to flip-flop the two during the game, even going to Keith Taylor in the red zone. But the Week 18 tape won’t show a close contest.

3. Some bright spots?

There were a couple, as odd as that might sound considering the final score.

But maybe just that: a couple.

Such as Felix Anudike-Uzomah.

He had a career-high four quarterback pressures, and his best play actually came against the run. He stopped Denver running back Jaleel McLaughlin in the backfield for a 4-yard loss.

That came one week after he recorded a sack.

The other bright spot: Jaden Hicks.

Hicks, a rookie safety, has shown steady progress this year, which has prompted an increase in playing time, taking some snaps from Bryan Cook. Hicks was the Chiefs’ best defensive player on the field, which might be a lower bar than it typically would be, but he cleared it quite easily.

4. Mahomes, starters rest

A rarity for this weekly column: Let’s talk about who didn’t play.

The next time Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones, Trent McDuffie and a handful of others take another snap, either 24 or 25 days will have elapsed since they last played a down of football.

Let me get this out of the way early: The Chiefs didn’t owe the Bengals anything Sunday. Their focus rested squarely on where it should have — the best option for themselves.

OK, so was this that?

It’s certainly a long layoff — and there also is certainly a length of time in which it becomes too long of a layoff. I understand the concern. Really. It would be difficult for me to argue that sitting out for 24 days means nothing.

But the history guided the decision. Reid is 29-3 as a head coach, playoffs included, when he has a bye week and the opponent does not. That will be the Chiefs’ situation when they play in the AFC Divisional Round.

Yes, this is longer than just one bye week. It’s more like the equivalent of two bye weeks for the aforementioned players. But Reid is an expert at taking advantage of time off with his staff’s self-scouting.

That’s true, regardless of how this playoff run turns out. He’s won twice in his career when giving his starters a 21-plus day break.

There is another obvious benefit too. A few of his top players — Kelce, Mahomes among them — could stand to get healthy.

5. Harrison Butker misses another

Among those who could probably use the time off?

The kicker.

Harrison Butker, the second most accurate kicker in NFL history, missed a 51-yard field goal in the first half, his first career miss in Denver. Which, look, it could be nothing. But it’s his third missed kick (two field goals, one extra point) since he had knee surgery on a torn meniscus in his non-kicking leg.

Butker has implemented a style in which he drops to a knee on his follow-through. It looks awkward, even if it’s part of the routine.

But a couple of weeks off could probably prove beneficial — Butker has been integral to every Super Bowl run.