The Kansas City Chiefs Have a Problem, and It's Not Taylor Swift

If winning covers up a multitude of problems, the opposite can be said for losing. When results are going the wrong way, the pressure mounts. Everything seems to be an issue.

And in a twist that no one really foresaw at the start of the 2023 NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs are feeling that heat. After an ugly Christmas Day outing, the defending champs are sitting at 9-6. They're 3-5 since the last weekend of October, and the previously untouchable offense looks remarkably human.

That fall from grace has prompted the search for a scapegoat. For things to go this wrong within the same calendar year as a Super Bowl victory, someone has to be shouldering the blame. Taylor Swift, however, isn't that person.

The Chiefs Kept Sliding on Christmas Day

While nothing in football is guaranteed, it looked like the Kansas City Chiefs had an easy schedule at the tail end of the NFL season. Facing the Patriots, Raiders, Bengals and Chargers wasn't supposed to be a murderer's row, and things were only improved by the fact that none of those teams were playing with their Week 1 starting quarterbacks.

That trend lasted for one week, as KC downed the Patriots, but everything came undone on Christmas Day.

Despite a meek performance from Las Vegas' offense (quarterback Aidan O'Connell threw for a grand total of 62 yards on the day), the Raiders still left Arrowhead with a 20-14 victory. Kansas City's offense offered the visitors' defense two touchdowns in less than 10 seconds, and that was enough.

Patrick Mahomes completed 27 of 44 passes, throwing for 235 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Those stats don't tell the full story, though, as the quarterback was running for his life all afternoon. running back Isiah Pacheco was forced out of the game with a concussion, and no one on the roster pulled in more than 60 receiving yards.

During the game, Travis Kelce's frustration boiled over. And after the final whistle, head coach Andy Reid shouldered the blame in his press conference.

"They played a better game than we did today," he explained. "On offense we struggled. That's my responsibility to make sure we put the guys in the right position to make plays, and that didn't happen the way we wanted it to. I take full responsibility for the way we played offensively there."

And while KC is still in line to claim the divisional crown, the loss did officially end the Chiefs' chances of securing the AFC's number one seed. That means that Mahomes will have to head on the road for the first time in his postseason career.

At this point, though, securing playoff position is the first priority.

Taylor Swift Probably Doesn't Affect the Offense

As mentioned above, losing streaks have a way of sending fans and pundits searching for answers. What could be responsible for the Chiefs' current slide?

That's where Taylor Swift enters the conversation.

On Christmas Day, sports pundit Skip Bayless wondered if it was time to admit that the pop star's presence around the team was a lingering distraction. And while many social media users replied to his tweet to shoot down that theory, he wasn't the only one to have that idea. We've heard this narrative all year, with KC's power players shooting it down.

Again, it's reasonable to try and find a root cause for the Chiefs' struggles. Blaming a player's partner, who's watching some games from the stands, is a bridge too far.

First, let's focus on Kelce. Given that he's now in a high-profile relationship and has admitted that he's thinking about life after football, it's easy to think that his mind might be wandering. And while we don't know what's happening in the tight end's head, this isn't his first encounter with the spotlight.

Remember, No. 87 has been a big-name player for years. He had his own reality show and co-hosts a podcast with his brother. His mother has stepped into the public eye too, and last season's Super Bowl placed the entire Kelce clan at the center of the narrative.

Want to argue that dating one of the most famous people on the planet is different than those realities? That's fair, but it's not like Kelce just stepped out of a time machine and is facing the modern media for the first time. He and Swift knew what they were getting into, and it's hard to believe they wouldn't have factored potential pressures into that.

Beyond that, let's look at the tight end's numbers. While he has slowed down in some specific metrics, Kelce's aren't notably out of sync with his previous years. His touchdowns have fallen off, but that's likely a systematic problem (as we'll discuss).

Similarly, the Chiefs rattled off six straight wins during the early weeks of the season. Given that's when the Swift-Kelce storyline started to take off, wouldn't have those games been subject to even more distraction?

But that's not the only problem with asserting Swift is a distraction. Let's zoom out further. Mahomes has slipped from his high standards and has already thrown a career high in interceptions. Is he distracted by the mere presence of a celebrity who isn't even there to see him?

And the same can be said for the rest of the organization. Did receivers Kadarius Toney and Marquez Valdes-Scantling drop passes because they were thinking about Swift? Is Andy Reid's play-calling informed by the fact that there's a celebrity in a suite upstairs? And was General Manager Brett Veach so busy anticipating the Swift-Kelce storyline during the offseason that he simply forgot to acquire another receiver?

Of course not.

The current iteration of the Chiefs, for all of the star power, is clearly flawed. The receiving corps lacks a true secondary option beyond Kelce, and that starts a butterfly effect. Without someone who can create separation, Mahomes has to hold the ball longer and force throws into tighter windows. Without a deep threat, the team has to dink and dunk down the field, which provides more opportunities for mistakes. And those mistakes don't have to be game-breaking turnovers, either. Whether we're talking about dropped passes, false starts or other penalties, the Chiefs simply find themselves in a hole.

And then, the circular logic connects. Without a secondary playmaker, third and long turns into a punt, and the opposing team gets the ball.

That's not because of Swift and suggesting she's somehow the source of the issues abdicates responsibility from everyone else. It's tough to discern where that blame goes—as alluded to above, you could blame any combination of the front office, the coaching staff and the offensive players—but they all have active roles in the situation.

For all of the pop star's clout, she's largely powerless in this arena.

And, no matter how the rest of the season goes, her impact on the Chiefs' performances won't change.