Chiefs clinch AFC West with 25-17 win over Bengals
The Chiefs haven't looked right on offense for much of this season and they won't be the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, but they are the AFC West champions once again.
Harrison Butker kicked six field goals to account for the final 18 points at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday and the Chiefs beat the Bengals 25-17 to secure their eighth straight division title. That's the second-longest run in NFL history and the Chiefs are now headed to the postseason for the ninth-straight year overall.
This trip will be different because they'll be the No. 3 seed and will have to win at least one game on the road if they want to get back to the Super Bowl. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes has not had to do that yet in his NFL career, which is a testament to how good this Chiefs run has been. This season has been more difficult thanks to shaky play from the receiving corps, turnovers and issues on the offensive line and those things reared their head again on Sunday.
Isiah Pacheco helped the team overcome those things with 18 carries for 130 yards and seven catches for 35 yards that included the team's only touchdown of the day. Mahomes committed his 17th turnover of the season to help the Bengals take a 17-7 halftime lead, but ended the day 21-of-29 for 245 yards and connected five times with rookie Rashee Rice for 127 yards.
Kansas City closed out the win with their defense. Safety Justin Reid had sacks on either side of the two-minute warning and George Karlaftis and Chris Jones dropped Jake Browning twice more in the final minutes to seal the win. Given the offensive difficulties, the Chiefs will be leaning heavily on those players and the rest of the defense as they try to put together another run.
With the team locked into the third seed, it remains to be seen how the Chiefs will approach playing starters in their Week 18 game against the Chargers.
The Bengals have been eliminated from playoff contention with the loss and the Browns are locked into the fifth seed, so their final game will be a low stakes affair. They will hope to get Joe Burrow back to full health after this year's calf and wrist injuries and use the offseason to try to build a team that gets them back to the playoffs for the third time in four seasons.
