Why Travis Kelce isn't playing in Sunday's Week 18 game between the Chiefs and Broncos

The Kansas City Chiefs are in action for Week 18, but you’ll notice that Andy Reid is sending out a new-look squad for Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos.

Star players like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones were listed as inactive for the game against their AFC West rivals, and the reason for that is simple:

The Chiefs don’t have anything to play for in this game.

With the No. 1 seed in the AFC, homefield advantage and a first-round bye all locked up, the Chiefs have elected to rest their key players and not risk injury ahead of the playoff run.

Our inactives for today's matchup pic.twitter.com/F92nDoqa2p

— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 5, 2025

The Chiefs took a similar approach last year in Week 18, resting Kelce and Mahomes en route to a second straight Super Bowl title. It doesn’t make sense to change that approach this time around.