Football followers and Taylor Swift’s own massive fanbase have united as one to roundly reject suggestions from NFL analysts that the singer is partly to blame for the Chiefs’ recent struggles.
Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce and his Kansas City team have failed to recapture the form that saw them win the Super Bowl last year, with their woes compounded by a miserable 20-14 loss at Arrowhead Stadium to the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Day.
The Chiefs conceded two touchdowns in seven seconds, with the Raiders pouncing on a mix-up between Isiah Pacheco and quarterback Patrick Mahomes for the first, before Jack Jones’ pick-six moments later when he intercepted a Mahomes throw.
Frustration got the better of Kelce, as well, as he was caught on camera slamming his helmet to the ground before his coach, Andy Reid, gave him a shoulder nudge and tried to get him to regain his focus.
But according to Undisputed host Skip Bayless and OutKick founder Clay Travis, the extra attention on the Chiefs that comes with Kelce dating Swift is causing the season to unravel.
Taylor Swift has been blamed for distracting the Chiefs amid their recent downturn in form
Skip Bayless (left) and Clay Travis (right) have been the leading critics of Swift and Kelce
Kelce and the Chiefs have struggled in recent weeks and lost on Christmas Day to the Raiders
Travis took to Twitter on Christmas Day, after the Chiefs loss, and wrote: ‘The Chiefs are not a good football team and Travis Kelce looks like he should retire.
‘He’s been worthless the last seven or eight weeks. The double worthless Pfizer shots may have caught up with him. Either that or Taylor Swift is the Chiefs Yoko Ono. Maybe both.’
Bayless, meanwhile, tweeted around the same time saying: ‘Feels like it’s about time to call Taylor Swift a distraction. What do you think, Patrick? Andy? How about you, Travis?’
But both claims were met with derision from NFL fans and Swift’s own supporters, given that the Chiefs clearly have issues on the field, rather than the stands, that clearly need addressing.
Bayless doubled down on the claims on Undisputed on Tuesday, saying it ‘is a lot of stuff on top of the battles you are facing on the field’.
One fan responded to the clip on X saying: ‘Yeah, wide receiver coach Taylor Swift is really stuffing their season up isn’t she? What? She’s not a coach? She’s a boyfriend of one of the players? Then it’s nothing to do with her you weird, old misogynistic idiots.’
Another said: ‘Ahh yes, this is the reason *checks notes* THE LEADING PASS CATCHER ON THE TEAM has been distracted. Got it. Not Nagy, not an inept WR coach, a bottom barrel WR room. It’s Taylor swift. Got it.’
One user replied directly to Bayliss saying: ‘The offensive line allows Mahomes to be sacked 4 times and hit 10 times. And, the NFL analyst thinks it’s Taylor Swift’s fault?
‘Listen to the post game press conference. Plenty of reasons mentioned for the loss. None name Swift. The coach and team take accountability.’
Swift was cheering Kelce on in the Christmas Day loss to Las Vegas Raiders on Monday
Kelce has, overall, been one of the standout players for the Chiefs across the regular season
Fans laughed at claims the team’s struggles on the field are because of Swift dating Kelce
Outkick founder Travis had plenty of social media users questioning his post, too.
One said: ‘Mahomes hands the ball over twice and this is somehow Kelce’s fault and Swift’s fault.’
Another said to Travis: ‘There is no chance you really believe any of this. You’re just saying what you think you have to.’
A different response read: ‘Or the Chiefs offensive line doesn’t give Mahomes time and Kelce gets double teamed since they have zero receivers.’
The Chiefs are back in action on New Year’s Eve at Arrowhead Stadium, facing the Cincinnati Bengals with the chance to silence their critics.
The Christmas Day Raiders loss leaves the team at 9-6 for the campaign with two regular season games left to go.
Kelce and Co will round out the regular season against the Los Angeles Chargers on January 7.