Travis Kelce's Fiery Rant Shuts Down Speculation About Chiefs Being Scared of Bengals

Despite some alluding to the Chiefs' Week 18 loss being intentional, Kelce silenced that with a profanity-filled rant on his latest podcast episode.

Dec 4, 2022; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) meet following the game at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images / Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

When the NFL flexed its scheduling for Week 18, it did so in an effort to set up a dramatic end to the 2024-25 regular season. Some teams held up their end of the bargain, especially in the AFC as the race for the seven-seed in the playoffs continued.

With a Saturday win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cincinnati Bengals kept their postseason hopes alive. They still needed losses from the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins, however, and both clubs played during the late-afternoon window the following day. Miami's loss to the New York Jets left Denver as the final team to help propel Joe Burrow and company into the big dance, but they dominated the Kansas City Chiefs by a final score of 38-0 and locked up a spot for themselves.

In the aftermath of Week 18, many folks on social media are upset and have even gone so far as to insinuate that the reigning Super Bowl champions held back in order to avoid Cincinnati. There are many flaws in that logic, but Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce's response is probably the best way to dispel all of that.

On a Wednesday episode of the "New Heights" podcast with his brother Jason, Kelce got fired up in a rant about Cincinnati and the rest of the conference playoff field.

"I ain't scared of f– nobody!" Kelce said. "I wanted them in the f– playoffs! I want to slay every dragon one by one like 'Mortal Kombat.' I don't even want this to be like a 'we play the lowest seed [situation]'. Just give me the best teams. AFC, NFC, give me all of them 'Mortal Kombat' style. I'll go through every f– one of them, just giving them my best f– effort. I ain't scared of a single soul, man."

Kelce later tipped his cap to the 9-8 Bengals for being fun competition, albeit still no one to be intimidated by.

"I'll play them at the Walmart parking lot," Kelce said. "I don't give a s–. We can have our own game in the offseason where we really duke it out again. Listen, I love competing against the greatest. The Bengals were a fun ass f– team to watch there toward the end of the season. It's a shame they didn't make it in the playoffs, because they would've made the playoffs that much f– crazier and that much more fun."

Multiple things can be true here. On one hand, Cincinnati has played Kansas City as close and tough as just about any club in the NFL. Their offense is elite, and any time a defense has to play Burrow and his assortment of wide receivers is never good. With that said, the Bengals would've first had to defeat the No. 2-seeded Buffalo Bills just to earn the chance to come to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium to face the Chiefs. Lou Anarumo's defense also wasn't the same unit it used to be, as evidenced by his firing earlier this week.

After a 15-2 regular season, Kansas City doesn't have anyone to be afraid of. The only remote fear factor could've been the Bills, who beat the champs during the regular season. A conference rivalry scenario no longer applies to the Bengals. They haven't defeated Patrick Mahomes, Kelce and others in over two years.

As Joshua Brisco of Kansas City Chiefs On SI put it on Sunday evening, the Chiefs' backups lost because they didn't owe anyone anything.

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