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Taylor Swift was noticeably absent from the Kansas City Chiefs’ game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday – yet she is being blamed for her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s heavily criticized performance this season.

Chiefs fans – and apparently Kelce himself – were frustrated during the Chiefs’ game against the Falcons on Sunday, September 22nd with Sports illustrated He called the game Kelce’s “third disappointing week in a row.” The 34-year-old tight end, who has yet to score a touchdown this season, was barely targeted during the game — and as a result caught just four passes for 30 yards. In a viral clip from Sunday, Kelce appeared emotional as he stood on the sideline, wiping his face with a downcast look. (The moment quickly became a meme titled “Sad Travis Kelce.”)

Although the Chiefs still beat the Falcons 22-17 — and have won all three of their games this season so far — Kelce’s performance this year has already been criticized as everything from a “slow start” to “one of the worst starts of his career.” As such, some NFL commentators — and many football fans — are wondering how Kelce thinks on the field, and many are wondering if his high-profile romance with Swift has something to do with it.

Thousands of NFL fans took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to express their opinion that Swift – or the time Kelce spends with her – is responsible for Kelce’s performance this season.

“TayTay’s destruction of Kelce has begun,” one person wrote.

“I hate that Taylor Swift ruined Travis Kelce’s NFL career,” commented another. “He’s too distracted.”

“Travis Kelce is either ancient or VERY DISTRACTED! YOUR FANS ARE GETTING PISSED! MAYBE YOU NEED TO BE SINGLE TO PLAY BETTER FOOTBALL! This sh*t is getting old,” said a third person, tagging Kelce, Swift and the NFL in the tweet.

Swifties, however, did not take the criticism lightly.

“I’d like to remind you that Taylor Swift distracted Travis Kelce on the way to winning the Superbowl last year,” one fan remarked. “Take her name out of her mouth. We’re 3-0.”

“This talk about Travis being distracted is so damn misogynistic,” said another fan. “He’s been completely free time and time again, he can’t throw the ball to himself. Let’s stop pretending he can’t handle the business because he works harder than anyone and anyone on the Chiefs will tell you that and HAS done so.”

Others simply thought people hated Swift herself.

“I think the main issue for us is the pundits claiming he’s distracted – which is a direct misogynistic jab at Taylor and couldn’t be further from the way he’s handled everything,” another user opined. “No one is saying (Buffalo Bills quarterback) Josh Allen’s issues are because of (girlfriend) Hailee (Steinfeld).”

“Nobody is saying (Chiefs quarterback) Pat (Mahomes) is distracted when he has two kids and another on the way with a wife who has made a few headlines herself recently 🤪,” one X user agreed. “It feels like a narrative with the talking heads they like to use 24/7.”

As for Mahomes’ season so far, he believes other teams “respect” him so much that their defenses are harassing him. “We call a lot of plays for Travis, and it’s like two or three people are going to him,” the quarterback said after the game, noting that Kelce “understands” that.

“I think that’s the great thing about him: He wants to make an impact in the game, but at the end of the day he wants to win,” Mahomes added, noting, “I’m going to do my best to keep getting him the ball whenever he’s there, whenever he’s free.”