Travis Kelce continued his upturn in form with a captivating display as the Chiefs beat New Orleans Saints 26-13 on Monday night, with Taylor Swift cheeing him from the stands in Kansas City.
The win moves the Chiefs to 5-0 ahead of their bye week next weekend as their dominant start continued in pursuit of what would be an historic third straight Super Bowl triumph.
Kelce didn’t score a touchdown but had nine receptions for 70 yards – his first half was especially impactful when he entered the interval with eight catches for 67 yards.
He even sparked wild excitement at Arrowhead Stadium in the second quarter when he threw a lateral to Samaje Perine. His injured teammate Hollywood Brown took to X and wrote, alongside a ‘goat’ emoji: ‘Travis Kelce is very good at football’.
There was a moment of panic in the second quarter, with cameras catching Kelce wincing in pain after a hit on his left shoulder but fortunately for the Chiefs, he was fine to play on.
But the tight end had a quieter third quarter with the Saints keeping closer attention on him. Ultimately, touchdowns from Kareem Hunt and Xavier Worthy and some trusty kicking from Harrison Butker meant the Super Bowl champions extended their unbeaten start to the campaign.
Kareem Hunt also produced a promising display with 102 yards and JuJu Smith-Schuster contributed with 130, including a 51-yard gain late on when the Saints were starting to threaten.
Any hope of a fightback for the Saints in the fourth quarter appeared to dissolve when quarterback Derek Carr was forced out of the closing stages with an oblique issue.
Moments earlier, Saints tight end Foster Moreau started the fourth quarter with a touchdown that slashed the lead the Chiefs held to three points. But with Carr’s exit, hopes of a shock result all but disappeared.
Her attendance had been highly anticipated, especially as she did not show up at Kelce’s ‘Car Jam’ charity event on Saturday night, the day of his 35th birthday.
But she arrived shortly before kickoff in Monday’s game, taking a seat in Kelce’s VIP suite alongside her father Scott.
The Chiefs take a break next weekend and return to action on October 20 in a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in California.
Swift is in the final days of a break from her record-setting Eras Tour, which resumes with the first of three shows Friday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
