The Kansas City Chiefs have seldom struggled against a team in the postseason except whenever they have faced Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. Apart from Tom Brady, he is the only quarterback who has been able to stand up to Patrick Mahomes and go toe-to-toe with him. However, this year, the situation that the Bengals find themselves in is a bit interesting.

The 8-8 team ranks 3rd in the AFC North and despite a slow start to the season, they have managed to put themselves in a better position on the back of Joe Burrow’s MVP-esque performance but despite their best efforts, the Bengals are not in the clear just yet. After a close overtime win against the Broncos on Saturday, there were a few things Cincinnati needed to work in its favor in order to win the final playoff berth in the AFC.

The team needed the Colts to lose one game and the Dolphins to lose one game, while the former lost, the latter wound up winning but this still helped the Bengals. Now there is a chance that Miami can lose the final game of its season but there is one more thing that Joe Burrow and Co. need to happen and that is for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to beat the Denver Broncos.

If the reigning Super Bowl champions beat Bo Nix and the Broncos that would boost Cincinnati’s odds of entering the playoffs. Normally, there would be no questioning KC’s ability to pull this win off. The team managed to block a field goal in the final seconds of the first matchup against Denver earlier this season thereby beating Sean Payton and his team. However, in Week 18, things are a bit different.

As per Ian Rapoport, the Chiefs are inclined to rest their starters and allow the backup players to take the field instead. This move is to ensure Patrick Mahomes does not put himself in a risky position and reinjure his sprained ankle thereby impacting his availability in the playoffs. If this is the case then Carson Wentz will be taking the majority of the snaps for the Chiefs.

While this would be great for Denver, it would not be as good for the Bengals because, in this scenario, Bo Nix and his team will have a good shot to win. Apart from this too, the Broncos have a better reason to win this game and that is because this is their best shot at making it to the playoffs. If the team fails to land this victory, then they will all be going to Cancun.

The Kansas City Chiefs would be playing it smart as the team is striking two birds with one stone here. By resting the starters, the franchise will be making sure the key players are all well rested and by sending the backups in a must-win game for their opponents, they have just made it easy for Denver to seal their playoff berth. This would also mean that Joe Burrow and the Bengals are out of playoff contention- this news is equivalent to the sound of music to the ears of Chiefs Kingdom.

Assuming that Denver loses to Kansas City’s backup squad, in that case, can the Bengals still miss the playoffs? Yes. Cincinnati needs the Miami Dolphins to lose one game and then they will need to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers next week. So there are a total of 3 things that need to happen for them to make it to the post-season because there is just one playoff berth available.

However, considering that the Dolphins are playing the Jets next week, it is doubtful if they will lose as no matter how inconsistent Tua Tagovailoa has been, that franchise is not as dysfunctional as the Jets have been this season. Now what if the Bengals themselves fail to beat the Steelers in Week 18? That too would be deterimental to their playoff aspirations. With these many outliers, NFL.com pegs the Bengals’ odds of making the postseason at 15%.