The Kansas City Chiefs’ playoff hopes might’ve died today after a gutless loss to the Houston Texans. It was thanks, in large part, to tight end Travis Kelce’s two costly errors, who seems to be making too many of them lately. To make things worse, Kelce made a rather unusual post-game decision.

ESPN’s chief reporter, Nate Taylor, was asked if Kelce stayed around to answer a few questions, and Taylor had something interesting to say.

“He declined a few minute ago. He was 1 of the last guys to take their uniform off,” Taylor said.

As unorthodox as this is for him, you can’t entirely blame him. Making those errors in arguably the most important game of the season would take its toll on anyone.

Down seven with under five minutes left, Mahomes went to his most trusted target twice. Both throws hit Kelce. Neither ended well. The second was the backbreaker. Kelce bobbled a seam throw, popped it into the air, and Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair came down with it. Houston took over at the Chiefs’ 26 with 3:40 left, up 17–10, and essentially sealed the game with a field goal.

And this wasn’t a one-off. Kelce has had a handful of uncharacteristic drops this season. In the Commanders’ loss, he let a simple 3rd-and-4 conversion slip through his hands and into the arms of linebacker Bobby Wagner. Back in Week 2 against the Eagles, he dropped a would-be touchdown that turned into an interception for Andrew Mukuba.

So when fans started calling for retirement talks to begin, it wasn’t entirely out of nowhere. They just became dramatically louder after Sunday’s collapse.

Retirement calls grow louder for Travis Kelce

Retirement calls for Travis Kelce have existed since week 2. They’ve only grown louder since. A quick scroll through Chiefs social media tells the story: screenshots of Kelce sitting on the bench, eyes shut, frustration clear, paired with fans wondering if it’s time for him to walk away. And given the stage he had tonight, this wasn’t the moment to have one of his roughest outings.

His mom, Donna Kelce, made the trip to Arrowhead. She was waiting for him in the tunnel pregame. Taylor Swift was there, too, along with Selena Gomez. A packed house, a marquee matchup, all eyes on Kansas City, and naturally, on him.

But the significance goes beyond who was in the building. This loss drops the Chiefs to 6–7 and teeters them on the edge of missing the postseason for the first time in 10 years. A team that was not long ago considered a Super Bowl contender, Kansas City now carries just a 16% chance of sneaking into the playoffs.

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If they get in, Kelce will have a chance to rewrite the tone of his season. If they don’t, even a strong finish won’t erase the memory of nights like this. And to be fair, the drops weren’t just his. The Chiefs had six balls bounce off receivers’ hands, each one killing momentum.

Still, Kelce’s mistakes are the ones that will stick with fans. Expectations shape everything, and they simply expect more from him. If the season keeps sliding in this direction, we may be watching the final chapters of Kelce’s run in Kansas City unfold in real time.