That broke a streak for the Chiefs -- they'd gone 61 games without being shut out in the first half, and 12 years without a full-game shutout.
The obvious explanation is simple: The Chiefs rested five of their starters -- Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones, Trent McDuffie, and George Karlaftis -- because this game didn't matter to them for post-season placement, while the Broncos brought all their fire because this game did matter to them.
But I'm already hearing rumblings online that the Chiefs intentionally "threw" the game for a very different reason:
The Chiefs' real AFC competition consists of two teams: The Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Bills already had a playoff berth knocked down prior to Sunday.
But the Bengals had a kind of lackluster season (before coming back to win their last five games) and the only way for them to make the playoffs was for the Broncos to lose.
Since the Broncos won, the Bengals are out of the playoff picture.
I think the obvious, simple explanation is the correct one. The Chiefs used this game as an opportunity to rest some key players, audition some newer/up-and-coming players, etc., and allowed the chips to fall where they fell. If they were actively "throwing" the game, they'd probably have made it convincing and preserved those no-shutout streaks. Even a first-half field goal would have accomplished that.
But they're probably glad they don't have to get past Joe Burrow & Co. to make it to the Super Bowl.
No comments:
Post a Comment