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The Chiefs improve to 5-1 after the sixth episode of Thursday Night Football
CNN –
Grammy-winning artist Taylor Swift continues to be a talisman for the Kansas City Chiefs as they defeated the Denver Broncos 19-8 at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night.
Swift has watched the Chiefs in person for the third time this season and has yet to see them lose. The singer was shown in the Prime Video broadcast sitting next to the mother of two-time Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce in the family suite.
And tight end Kelce, who was listed as questionable to play after suffering an ankle injury in Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings, spearheaded the Chiefs’ performance that night. The 34-year-old had nine receptions for 124 yards (100 in the first half alone), the most receiving yards for a tight end in the NFL this season.
Kelce continued his theme of somehow always being open while playing with the Broncos’ defense in the middle of the field and exploiting their zone coverage on multiple occasions.
Neither Kelce nor Swift have publicly commented on their friendship, but there has been much speculation that the two are dating since she showed up to ask him weeks after he said he screwed up giving the pop star his phone number to support gaming.
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The Broncos couldn’t contain Kelce on Thursday.
“He’s one of those guys that you can give freedom to because he knows this offense like the back of his hand,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said from Kelce after the game, according to the NFL.
“In the zone he can work in the middle of the field. It hurts some of us to play deep, but at the same time it helps a lot when you have a guy like that who can work in the middle of the field.”
Mahomes, the league’s reigning MVP, put up impressive stats in prime time. He went 30/40 on pass attempts and rushed for 306 yards, throwing a touchdown to Kadarius Toney and an interception.
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Brittany Mahomes and Taylor Swift celebrate a Kansas City Chiefs touchdown against the Denver Broncos.
Despite the stats, it wasn’t the Chiefs’ prettiest win. Their normally high-flying offense wasn’t in full swing, as they struggled in the red zone (most notably when Mahomes was picked off at the goal line by Broncos safety Justin Simmons) and settled for field goals four times. However, kicker Harrison Butker stepped up when needed and went 4/4 on field goals, including a 60-yard attempt.
Mahomes praised the defense after the game, as did head coach Andy Reid, who lamented his team’s offensive deficiencies.
“Our defense continued to be incredible tonight,” Reid told reporters. “Offensively, we have to take care of business in the red zone. We had a lot of yards, positive yards, but you can’t stand still down there.”
It was another tough night for the Broncos, who slipped to 1-5 and were ineffective on both sides of the ball.
Their defense, which was ranked last in points per game allowed entering Week 6, has been leaky all season, but the offense, led by quarterback Russell Wilson, has really struggled. According to the NFL, Denver totaled 197 more yards than the Chiefs’ 389, with Wilson going 13/22 passing for 95 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
The touchdown pass (which was initially ruled incomplete and then turned over) to Courtland Sutton occurred in the fourth quarter and the ensuing two-point conversion brought the score to 16-8 and put the Broncos back in the game.
However, any hope of a comeback was dashed later in the quarter when Butker kicked his fourth field goal.
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Things are getting worse for Denver.
Wilson was also sacked four times in another hot game. Broncos head coach Sean Payton tried to take some positives from the game, but was fully aware of where his team needed to improve.
“I’m not discouraged,” he said after the game. “Offensively, we struggled to throw the ball. Our third-down numbers were poor.
“It will be difficult to win the game against a team like this, and yet we were still in it until the fourth quarter. Sometimes you don’t know how a game is going to end.”
The Broncos have 10 days to prepare for their next test – a home game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday next week.