Video: Travis Kelce Denies Chiefs Lost to Keep Bengals Out of NFL Playoff Bracket

Travis Kelce doesn't have time for anyone who is mad that the Kansas City Chiefs rested all of their key players in Week 18 rather than try to win so the Cincinnati Bengals could have a shot to make the playoffs.

On the latest episode of the New Heights podcast (starts at 23:25 mark), Kelce said "we didn't f--king throw any game" in response to criticism after the Chiefs' 38-0 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

There were a handful of NFL analysts who accused the Chiefs of taking a dive in that game to avoid potentially playing the Bengals in the postseason.

The Bengals needed to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers and have the Broncos and Miami Dolphins lose to earn the No. 7 seed in the AFC. Two of the three outcomes went their way with a victory over the Steelers and a Dolphins loss, but Denver had no issues with the Chiefs' backups.

Kansas City, which had already locked up a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, held out Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones, Trent McDuffie, George Karlaftis, Jawaan Taylor and Isiah Pacheco in Week 18.

Bengals fans and others can be mad about the way things played out in that game, but it's not Kansas City's job to worry about other teams. The Chiefs did what they needed to do in the first 17 weeks of the regular season to give their best players a chance to rest.

If the Bengals want to be mad about anything, they can look at their own team losing in Week 1 to a New England Patriots team that finished 4-13. They had six other losses by seven points or fewer this season.

One victory in any of those games would have given the Bengals control of their destiny in Week 18 rather than having to depend on anyone else.

It's also worth pointing out that the Chiefs ducking the Bengals is silly since they already beat them when the two teams played in Week 2. It was a close game that Kansas City won on a Harrison Butker field goal as time expired, but the idea that the two-time defending Super Bowl champs might be afraid of anyone is ludicrous.