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Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift continued to bring good luck to the Kansas City Chiefs, who defeated the Denver Broncos 19-8 on Thursday night at Arrowhead Stadium.
Swift has attended a Chiefs game in person for the third time this season and has yet to see them lose. During the Prime Video livestream, the singer sat in a family suite next to the mother of two-time Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce.
Tight end Kelce suffered an ankle injury in Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings and was listed as questionable, but he ended up being the Chiefs’ leader on the night. The 34-year-old had nine catches for 124 yards (100 yards in the first half alone), the most by any tight end in the NFL this season.
Kelce continued his theme of always being open in some way while toying with the Broncos’ defense in the middle of the field, taking advantage of their zone coverage on multiple occasions.
Neither Kelce nor Swift have publicly commented on their friendship, but there’s been plenty of speculation that the two are dating after she showed up to support him weeks after he said he bumblingly gave the pop star his phone number. his playing.
“He’s one of those guys that you can give freedom to because he knows the offense like the back of his hand,” Kelce’s Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said after the game, according to the NFL.
“In a zone defense, he can work in the midfield. It hurts some of our depth games, but at the same time, anytime you have a guy like that who can make plays in the midfield, it helps a lot. .”
Mahomes, the reigning league MVP, put up impressive numbers in prime time. He attempted 30/40 passes for 306 yards, one touchdown to Kadarius Toney, and one interception.
Despite the stats, it wasn’t the Chiefs’ prettiest win. Their usually high-flying offense didn’t get the most out of it as they got bogged down in the red zone (most notably when Mahomes was picked off by Broncos safety Justin Simmons at the goal line) and scored four times Field goal. However, kicker Harrison Butker stepped up when needed and went 4/4 from the field, including a 60-yarder.
Mahomes praised the team’s defense after the game, and head coach Andy Reid also lamented the team’s offensive woes.
“Our defense was unbelievable tonight as always,” Reid told reporters. “Offensively, we have to take care of the red zone. We have a lot of yards, positive yards, but you can’t stop there.”
It was another rough night for the Broncos, who fell to 1-5 and were ineffective on both ends of the floor.
Their defense ranks last in points allowed per game entering Week 6 and has been porous all season, but the offense has really struggled, led by quarterback Russell Wilson. Denver totaled 197 yards to the Chiefs’ 389, with Wilson going 13/22 passing for 95 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, according to NFL data.
A fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton (initially ruled incomplete and later overturned) and the ensuing two-point conversion made it 16-8 and put the Broncos back in the game .
However, any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Butker kicked his fourth field goal later in the period.
Wilson was also sacked four times in another tight game. Broncos head coach Sean Payton tried to take some positives from the game, but he’s fully aware of the areas where his team needs to improve.
“I’m not discouraged,” he said after the game. “Offensively, we struggled passing the ball. Our third down numbers were poor.
“It’s going to be difficult to win against a team like that, but we’re still going into the fourth quarter. Sometimes you don’t know how the game is going to unfold.”
The Broncos have 10 days to prepare for their next test — next Sunday at home against the Green Bay Packers.
