Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs host the Miami Dolphins in the wildcard round as the NFL playoffs begin for the reigning Super Bowl champions late Saturday.
Brett Favre believes Taylor Swift will be used as a scapegoat if the Kansas City Chiefs do not return to the Super Bowl this season. The pop star has attended nine of their regular season games since starting dating the team’s tight end Travis Kelce during the summer.
Swift, 34, has been described as a distraction for the Chiefs and even blamed by some for their downturn in form over recent weeks. After seeing the team win in all her first four games, they lost back-to-back against the Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers last month with Swift watching.
She was also at Arrowhead Stadium on Christmas Day when Kansas City lost to the Las Vegas Raiders. But the team has a 6-3 record overall when Swift is in the stands to watch her boyfriend play.
The postseason is now here, and it is currently unclear whether the singer will brave the freezing temperatures on Saturday night for the Chiefs’ wild-card round game against the Miami Dolphins. Regardless, Super Bowl-winning quarterback Favre foresees Swift receiving the brunt of the blame if the team flames out in the first round.
“I think it’ll be a distraction if they don’t make it to the Super Bowl,” he told TMZ. “If they don’t win it, or get to the Super Bowl, people are going to say, ‘That’s why.’
However, the Packers Hall of Famer is picking the Chiefs to repeat as champions, which he believes would save Swift from becoming scapegoated. “I don’t see why you would [pick against them],” he added. “Baltimore’s playing outstanding, but until you unseat the reigning champs…
“Regardless of how they’re winning, they won their division [the AFC West]. Maybe they’re not the home-field advantage throughout team [like the Ravens in the AFC and the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC], but you still gotta beat ’em.”
Favre continued: “Until Andy Reid is unseated as the champion… I have to see it to believe it. That’s the downside of being really good year in and year out, it’s like the least little chink in the armor, people write you off. And I think, if anything, it will light a fire.
“They’ve had a lot of turnover, lot of new faces. Patrick Mahomes, obviously, is the same; Andy Reid is obviously the same. They still have some key really good players in place.
“A win is a win. Ugly or pretty, it doesn’t matter; it’s a win. So, until someone proves me otherwise, I think they’ll go all the way.”
The doubts arise as only the Houston Texans (10-7) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-8) are the only two teams that won their respective divisions while losing more games than Kansas City.
Across the AFC teams in the postseason, only the Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7) and the Texans have more regular season losses than the Chiefs.