Walking into the Denver Broncos game, the Kansas City Chiefs thought of doing some damage control after tasting their first loss of the season against the Seattle Seahawks. But they ended up causing more damage as the Chiefs lost 24-28 to the Denver Broncos. The loss was so unexpected that the Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce could no longer hide his emotions.
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The tight end never shies away from saying how he has been the happiest person lately. But it’s the same Kelce who came close to tears during his postgame interview.
“It’s frustrating. You just can’t f—— do it! Excuse my language,” Kelce said. “I’ve got to be better for my teammates, and that sets the tone for a lot of people in this room.”
The scenes from the locker room have gone viral among the fans. In the clip, Chiefs players are seen with mental and physical exhaustion clearly on their faces. Kelce was spotted walking last while he had a solemn and dejected look on his face. Even during the post-game presser, Kelce was unable to fix his mood.
Kelce was nearly ready to leave the locker room following the Broncos’ loss when he noticed reporters gathering nearby. “Give me one second, guys,” he said before stepping around a corner and briefly disappearing, The Athletic’s Jesse Newell reported.
“Kelce returned a few minutes later, his eyes red, and spoke with the type of emotion that he hasn’t always shared after games,” read the report.
“We got a lot to fight,” he said. “You know, you gotta take the positives out of this. You can’t dwell on it. It’s a pretty good football team. You know, obviously in our hearts we feel like we should’ve came out with a victory, but at the same time, you know that’s not the reality of things. Reality of things is that we gotta fix a lot.”
“The little things, mistakes, and it starts with the person that you’re looking at in the mirror. I’m one of them. I’ve been frustrated with myself on how long I’ve been in the league and the procedural stuff that’s happened for the past three games, really. Really since the bye, and it’s frustrating.”
Was Kelce’s frustration valid? Yes. Kansas City suffered a painful fourth-quarter collapse against Denver, allowing an 11-point advantage to disappear before Harrison Butker missed a 54-yard field goal. That marked the turning point in the divisional rankings, giving the edge to the Broncos to secure the victory, leaving the Chiefs at 5-2 and pushing them out of first place in the AFC West.
Even though Kelce made himself accountable for the loss, he did put up some decent performance against the Broncos. He turned seven targets into five receptions for 67 receiving yards. Yet Kelce’s solid performance couldn’t offset the team’s collapse.
The Chiefs’ defense was effective for most of the game, but faltered in the fourth quarter. They kept Denver relatively quiet for much of the contest: 294 total yards at an average of 5.3 yards per play. But where they faltered as a team was when Kansas City surrendered two touchdowns in the final quarter. Those scores allowed the Broncos to erase an 11-point deficit and complete their comeback.
What adds to the pain are the penalties. Kansas City committed 11 penalties for 105 yards in Week 8, repeatedly putting itself in difficult situations and making life harder on both sides of the ball. Not just Kelce, this loss also changed something within quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Patrick Mahomes Looks to Move Forward After Painful Broncos Defeat
The Broncos saved their best for the closing stages, turning a seemingly comfortable Kansas City victory into a stunning comeback. Mahomes witnessed Bo Nix finding a way back to the contest with a 15-0 scoring run. It was definitely a painful sight to watch. But Mahomes will now turn the pain into revenge. However, he is now taking things slowly.
“Now, you’re kind of in a dogfight for the division… You have to take it one week at a time.” Mahomes said after the game, per Charles Goldman. “Last week, we didn’t have the fight that we had this week. I thought the fight was better this week. Whenever you’re playing up against a really good football team. But at the end, a loss is a loss, and you learn from it, you move on from it, and we’re still early in the season.”
The Chiefs have struggled against Denver recently, losing four of their last five encounters. Their only victory came in the season opener back on 14th September. Is there any hope in the coming weeks for the Chiefs to make up for the loss?
Their upcoming matchups against the New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals appear more manageable than the challenges awaiting them later in the season. So, in case Kelce and his team have to find their footing again, they will have to strike while the iron is hot in the next few weeks.