For some reason there was a significant portion of Bengals fans who thought the Chiefs should play legitimate, high-quality football against the Broncos in the most meaningless ga

By beating the team of reserves, the Broncos clinched the final AFC playoff spot. It created the worst possible outcome for the Cincinnati Bengals, who entered the game rooting for the Chiefs to win and the Jets to beat the Dolphins to steal an unlikely playoff berth.

Many Bengals fans are sure the Chiefs were scared of the Bengals and tanked in their loss at Denver. That kept Cincinnati out of the playoffs.

Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in a hard-fought AFC North contest by a final score of 19-17 to keep their playoff

Anyone associated with the Bengals or the team's fans didn't have to scoreboard watch for long on Sunday before the team's playoff hopes were dashed.

The Denver Broncos extinguished the C Bengals' playoff hopes, and claimed the AFC's No. 7 seed in the NFL playoffs.

The Bengals had a strong attendance year despite falling short of the playoffs, the latter of which led to a shakeup in the team's coaching staff.

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, right, rolls out of the pocket against the Kansas City Chiefs during the teams’ NFL Week 18 game at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. Isaiah J. Downing Imagn Images

Follow live with updates of the pivotal Jets-Dolphins and Chiefs-Broncos matchups Sunday afternoon with the Bengals hoping to make the playoffs.

Cincinnati, however, was able to get the ball right back. The Steelers’ Calvin Austin III fumbled on the punt return after Bengals LB Shaka Heyward appeared to punch the ball out. Cincinnati recovered the fumble on Pittsburgh’s 33-yard line.

The Cincinnati Bengals (8-8) take a four-game winning streak into their contest with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday, January 4, 2025 at Acrisure Stadium. The spread foreshadows a close game,