Many Kansas City Chiefs fans are looking for someone to blame for All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce’s slow start three games into the 2024 season, and naturally the first person who comes to mind is Kelce’s girlfriend, pop superstar Taylor Swift.
Kelce has taken a beating this week in the media for another poor performance in Kansas City’s 22-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons on “Sunday Night Football” – a game in which Kelce had just four receptions for 30 yards and wasn’t much of a factor.
Several media pundits have claimed that Swift is a distraction for Kelce due to the high-profile nature of their relationship and their highly publicized public appearances together. However, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid isn’t buying it, and he defended Kelce from the seemingly growing number of anti-Swift Chiefs fans who are not happy with Kelce’s output (eight catches, 69 yards) through the first three games.
“I know people are saying that he’s old or that he has distractions (meaning Swift), but defenses don’t think that,” Reid told reporters on Wednesday. “Trav is fine. He just keeps being Trav. He works his tail off. He hasn’t lost a step. He’s not distracted. [The defenses we’ve played] are making sure he’s taken care of.”
Whether Reid truly believes Swift isn’t a distraction for his star tight end remains to be seen, but no one should be surprised Reid had a politically correct response to the situation or that he defended Kelce from those ripping him for prioritizing his relationship over his NFL career. Kelce himself addressed the situation as well on his “New Heights” podcast on Wednesday, essentially saying the media is blowing things way out of proportion. “[If my season doesn’t turn around], as long as we winning football games, we’re good to go baby,” Kelce said.
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Yes, Josh Allen boasts a bazooka for an arm. Yes, he is the NFL’s most fearless field-tilting passer of the football. Yes, he runs the rock like a juiced-up fullback. Yes, he hurdles defenders like a dwarfing tight end. Yes, he has demonstrated one of the most drastic leaps in accuracy the league has witnessed. But… but what?
His genius does not go unappreciated, but the narrative around the Buffalo Bills quarterback might feel a whole lot different were it not for the man with the taper fade mohawk over in Kansas City, who may be Allen’s only superior.
Patrick Mahomes is in a Mount Rushmore-bound league of his own, but Allen and his influence are not all that far behind.
He IS the Bills offense. He always has been. When Brian Daboll left his post as offensive coordinator there were question marks over how Allen would fare in the absence of the man that had helped steer his staggering evolution from erratic rookie to game-wrecking slam-dunker. When perennial 1,000-yard man Stefon Diggs departed this offseason there were question marks over whether Allen could compensate for the lack of recognised veteran stars at receiver. He was fine, he is fine.
Through three weeks of the 2024 NFL season no quarterback in the league is playing better football than Allen, who spearheads the way-too-early MVP race as the greatest obstacle to the Chiefs’ pursuit of a historic Super Bowl threepeat.
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