Why Travis Kelce Didn’t Start During the Chiefs’ Season Finale

Football fans and devout Swifties didn’t watch the Super Bowl champion end in a tight end Travis Kelce take the field in the Kansas City Chiefs’ final game of the regular season.

Before the Chiefs game on Sunday, Jan. 5 against the Denver Broncos, the team official X account released an inactive list that included Kelce and a slew of Chiefs starters.

“Our inactives for today’s game,” the Chiefs wrote, highlighting Kelce and his teammates who returned Isiah Pachecopoint guard Patrick Mahomescornerback Trent McDuffiedefensive end George Karlaftisto solve Taylor’s responseand defensive solution Chris Jones.

Why did the Chiefs decide to sit so many starters for the final game of the regular season? The reason for the decision is good — the 15-1 team has already secured home-field advantage and a first-round bye in the upcoming NFL playoffs. The Chiefs clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC on Christmas Day 2024 after their 29-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Related: Travis Kelce will not play in Sunday’s Chiefs Game

UPDATE: 1/7/24, 3 p.m. ET — Travis Kelce will not play in Sunday’s game, the Kansas City Chiefs announced via X two hours before kickoff. “TE Travis Kelce has been ruled out of today’s game against the Chargers (coach’s decision),” the post read. Original story: Travis Kelce reveals whether or not he plans to play (…)

In other words, it’s not worth risking the health of your starters in a game that won’t change their playoff position for the Chiefs.

WITH Mahomes doesn’t runbackup quarterback Carson Wentz he was under center at Denver’s Empower Field at Mile High. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, January 1, the head coach Andy Reid he said he “didn’t care” about settling the starters.

“I’ve been through it before, so I’m not worried about all that,” Reid explained at the time. “It gives others an opportunity to grow, and you can take advantage of everyone.”

Related: Travis Kelce reveals why he sat out the Chiefs game against the Chargers

The reason Travis Kelce missed the Kansas City Chiefs game last weekend is pretty surprising. “It had nothing to do with my health. It had nothing to do with whether I was going to get hurt or not,” Travis (34) admitted on the Wednesday, January 10 episode of his New Heights podcast (…)

Reid, 66, went on to say that “the main thing is to make sure we stay sharp in all areas during this game and in the coming weeks.”

“We want to stay mentally and physically sharp and then it’s our responsibility to do that and how we manage our time,” he added. “I make sure I do it after practice and guys go out, players and coaches, and work on it.

With the Chiefs’ last regular season game being an away game and Kelce not playing, it wasn’t much of a surprise to Swifties and NFL fans that the tight end’s girlfriend, Taylor Swiftwas not present.

Rest assured, the pop star is likely to attend more than a few of the team’s playoff games, especially when the road to the Super Bowl goes through Kansas City.