The Denver Broncos clinched a playoff spot on Sunday night with a route of what was mostly second and third-stringers of the Kansas City Chiefs. In their 38-0 victory, the Broncos saw only a few notable members of the Chiefs, with upwards of 15 of their most important players not seeing a snap on the field. Andy Reid's squad had already locked up the top overall seed in the AFC and has legitimately nothing to play for.
The top seed resting their starters is nothing new in the NFL. It happens every year. In the NBA, you see much of the same. In MLB, a "post-clinching" lineup usually features most of the bench players starting and a few minor leaguers getting their crack at the big leagues. Even in college sports, resting key players after playoff spots are locked up and seeding is settled is nothing new. However, a few members of NFL media at large are really struggling with this concept.
NFL media convinced the Chiefs were afraid of Bengals, let Broncos win
The new tin-hat idea is that the Bengals, who finished with eight losses highlighted by a week one loss at home -- to Jacoby Brissett and the since-fired Jarod Mayo and the 4-13 Patriots -- were somehow wronged by the NFL and the Chiefs. Apparently, the league and Kansas City owed it to the Bengals to play their starters, and the eight games Cincinnati otherwise lost carry no weight here.
Media members such as Robert Griffin III and Don Van Natta Jr. have taken to X to somehow make the Broncos making the playoffs with a rookie QB and almost $90 million in dead cap about the Chiefs wanting to keep the Bengals out. The mental gymnastics to somehow surmise that the Chiefs, who had nothing to gain and everything to lose in Week 18, rested their starters in an effort to keep an eight-loss Bengals from the playoffs in favor of a team that had them closer to a loss at home than any other team this year is absurd. Griffin, a former player, should know a thing or two about topics such as this, but clearly he does not.
As for Van Natta, it is impressive to rise to the ranks of a Senior Writer, but he does not exactly understand the intentions of the Chiefs heading into week 18: be healthy and hit the bye as quickly as possible.
The media has had a rough time giving credit to Sean Payton and Bo Nix this year. Some figured a playoff appearance would ease some of that, but apparently not. At this rate, the Broncos could coast to a Super Bowl and some would be asking themselves how it all ties back to the Bengals and the greatest eight-loss season in history.