Travis Kelce has rebutted claims that the Kansas City Chiefs rested starters in their final game of the regular season in order to deny the Cincinnati Bengals a place in the playoffs.

After the Bengals won their final game of the regular season last Saturday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, they needed the Denver Broncos to lose to the Chiefs and the New York Jets to beat the Miami Dolphins the following day. The Jets duly overcame the Dolphins, but a severely weakened Chiefs team lost 38-0 to the Broncos, allowing Denver to claim the final wildcard spot in the AFC.

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The Bengals would have represented a tough challenge for any team in the postseason. They won their last five games of the regular season, inspired by Joe Burrow, who led the league in passing touchdowns and yards, and Ja’Marr Chase, who topped the NFL in receiving yards, receptions and receiving touchdowns. The Chiefs also had to rely on a late pass interference call when they squeaked out a 26-25 win over the Bengals in September.

“I ain’t scared of fucking nobody,” Kelce said on New Heights, the podcast he co-hosts with his brother Jason. “I wanted [the Bengals] in the … playoffs. I want to slay every dragon one by one, like Mortal Kombat. I don’t even want this to be like we play the lowest seed. Just give me the best teams.”

“AFC, NFC, give me all of them, Mortal Kombat-style. I’ll go through every … one of them. I ain’t scared of a single soul, man.”

After the Bengals’ win over the Steelers last week Cincinnati’s head coach, Zac Taylor, said the rest of the NFL were “not going to want us in this tournament, I promise you.” The Chiefs have also struggled against the Bengals in recent postseasons. Cincinnati reached the Super Bowl in 2022 after defeating the Chiefs in the AFC title game and nearly repeated the feat the following season.

“I’ll play the [Bengals] at the Walmart parking lot,” Kelce said on his podcast. “I don’t give a shit. We can have our own game in the offseason where we really duke it out. Listen, I love competing against the greatest. The Bengals were a fun-ass … team to watch there towards the end of the season, and it’s a shame they didn’t make it in the playoffs, because they would have made the playoffs that much crazier and that much more fun.”

The 35-year-old Kelce had a down year by his high standards, recording 823 receiving yards, his lowest total since his debut season in 2013. He was still named to his 10th Pro Bowl.

The Chiefs have a bye in the opening round of the playoffs, which takes place this weekend, after securing the No 1 seed in the AFC.