Kansas City beat Denver 31-10, but one Taylor Swift reaction quickly hijacked the conversation. With 51 seconds left in the second quarter, ESPN cut to Swift after a Travis Kelce catch, and social media immediately decided she was fed up with the cameras. The footage, however, tells a different story.
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Well, Mahomes had just found Kelce for six yards with Kansas City up 14-7 when Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II brought him down. ESPN’s cameras then cut to Swift in the suite, where she appeared to react to the play itself, saying, “He’s open, he’s open, get off him,” rather than the viral “Don’t show me, get off of me.” It was Kelce’s first catch of the half, moving the Chiefs from their own 9 to the 15 and setting up second-and-4 before Kansas City ran out the clock.
What could have drawn attention instead was the connection between Mahomes and Kelce. Chiefs GM Brett Veach has described their bond as “almost brother-like,” and that chemistry showed up again after halftime. Speaking about Mahomes’ return after the game, Kelce said, “He was saying it all week, man. He just needed that first hit, and he was going to be Patty Mahomes. And you can see that 15 is starting to get comfortable again, and I think next week we’ll even see him take his game to another level.”
Then came their biggest connection of the night.
Mahomes found Kelce on a short pass against Denver’s blitz, and Kelce broke a tackle before taking it 59 yards. Asked if he thought he was going to score, Kelce did not hesitate: “Of course I did. I had guys blocking for me downfield, man, and it’s a beautiful thing when you’ve got the cavalry out in front. You’ve just got to find a way to get in the end zone.”
He did not get the touchdown, but the play still became a milestone.
Kelce entered the night needing 45 yards to pass Jason Witten’s 13,046 career receiving yards, and that 59-yard burst moved him into second place all time among NFL tight ends. He finished with three catches for 71 yards and 13,073 career receiving yards, trailing only Tony Gonzalez’s 15,127. Swift and Kelce’s brother Jason were then shown celebrating together from the
For Mahomes, that connection carried extra weight. Monday night was his first game since tearing his ACL and LCL last December, and Kelce said the quarterback had spent the week insisting he only needed to absorb one real hit to feel like himself again.
Andy Reid came away encouraged by what he saw too. “It was great to get Patrick back in the mix there, knock a little rust off,” the Chiefs coach said. “I was proud of him and how he handled it, and he ran the ball a couple of times, and your hat goes off to the guy. Phenomenal.”
With that first test behind him, Kansas City can now turn its attention to what comes next.
The win was not completely clean, though. Chiefs rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane landed hard on his right shoulder after intercepting Bo Nix on the third play of the game and never returned, while linebacker Cooper McDonald also exited in the first half with a knee injury. Denver had a scare of its own when Marvin Mims Jr. briefly left with a hip issue before returning.
Reid offered little clarity afterward, saying, “Delane hurt his shoulder. We’re just going to see where that goes from here. Cooper McDonald hurt his knee. So we’ve just got to see in the next day or so where that leaves us with both those guys.”
Kansas City will not have much time to dwell on either the injuries or the opener. The Chiefs are back at Arrowhead on Sunday, September 20, to face the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday Night Football at 8:20 p.m. ET.