On Sunday, one of the two results they needed did not go in their favor. While the New York Jets were beating the Miami Dolphins (32-20) the Kansas City Chiefs laid an egg against the Denver Broncos with nothing on the line.
Denver clinched the last spot in the AFC playoff bracket with a 38-0 win over the No. 1-seeded Chiefs, who rested their starters in preparation for a third straight Super Bowl run.
Would have been fun to keep following this #Bengals team into the playoffs after their turnaround from a 4-8 start, but they left too much up to chance and didn't get the help they needed from the Chiefs today with nothing on the line against Denver. Interesting offseason ahead.
— Laurel Pfahler (@LaurelPfahler) January 6, 2025
The Bengals simply left too much to chance after dropping eight of their first 12 games, including seven by a touchdown or less. They’ll now look back on one or two plays in multiple games that could have been the difference in a 10-win season or better, and Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Trey Hendrickson enjoyed career years that weren’t enough to overcome the slow start for what was one of the worst defenses in the league through the first 12 games.
Cincinnati becomes just the third team in the last 30 seasons to finish on at least a five-game winning streak and still miss the playoffs. The other two were the 2017 San Francisco 49ers and the 2005 Miami Dolphins.
The Bengals will pick 17th in the first round of the NFL Draft.
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