Travis Kelce Trolled Over Emotional Reaction To Costly Drop, With Chiefs' Playoff Hopes In Jeopardy

Travis Kelce went viral after a crucial fourth-quarter drop contributed to the Chiefs' 20-10 loss to the Texans, further damaging their fading playoff hopes.

The tight end's reaction has since led to mixed reactions online, as some fans blasted Kelce while others defended him, blaming quarterback Patrick Mahomes' accuracy issues.

Head coach Andy Reid, however, accepted responsibility for late-game decisions, as the Kansas City Chiefs now face slim postseason odds and must win out to stay alive.

Kelce became the focus of a viral moment Sunday night after a costly drop factored into the Kansas City Chiefs' 20-10 loss to the Houston Texans. With the team fighting to stay alive in the playoff race, cameras captured a visibly devastated Kelce as the game slipped away.

Late in the fourth quarter, with the Chiefs trailing 17-10, Patrick Mahomes went to his trusted tight end on back-to-back plays.

On the second throw, Kelce tried to turn upfield before securing the catch, lost control of the ball, and watched it get intercepted by Houston linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair. He stayed on the ground as the Texans celebrated, a scene that spread quickly across social media.

A slow-motion angle showed defender Myles Bryant making contact just as Kelce reached for the pass. After teammates helped him up, he headed to the bench, closed his eyes, and sat quietly while NBC repeatedly returned to the shot during the final minutes.

The tight end finished with just one catch for eight yards on five targets. The loss dropped the Chiefs to 6-7, their worst 13-game start since 2012, sinking them to the AFC's tenth seed. Their postseason chances now hover around 16 percent, leaving little room for error in the final stretch.

Fans online didn't hold back, directing plenty of criticism his way. Some blamed Kelce for the momentum-killing mistake, while others dragged his relationship with Taylor Swift into the conversation.

One person commented, "Sometimes he can be a little too full of himself, so I guess that's something that makes me chuckle, for him accidentally dropping such a crucial catch."

Another quipped, "Travis Kelce brought Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, and Leonardo DiCaprio to the game just to see him have 1 catch for 8 yards and lose to the Texans lmao."

A third chimed in: "Travis Kelce has been washed at least 2 seasons now, so if anything, I'm glad the hit by Al-Shaair speeds up his retirement goals."

"I couldn't hate Travis Kelce more. Every time the Chiefs mess up, and it costs them the game, it's because of him," someone else added, while another wrote, "Time to retire OG."

But not everyone piled on. Some fans pointed fingers elsewhere, arguing Mahomes' throws played a role.

"In defense of @tkelce, they were both really bad passes that were behind him. Mahomes threw a lot of balls behind receivers yesterday at crucial moments," a fan stated.

Mahomes' performance added fuel to the frustration. The star quarterback delivered one of the worst outings of his career, completing just 14 of 33 passes for 160 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.

It was his first three-pick game of the season and his first since December 2022. His 42.4 percent completion rate marked a career low, though Chiefs receivers didn't help, with six drops on the night.

"You're just getting late in the season. You're not going to get these opportunities back," Mahomes told reporters afterwards, per ESPN. "That's a good football team, but we had chances, and we didn't execute at the right time to win it."

The loss officially ended the Kansas City Chiefs' nine-year reign atop the AFC West, the second-longest division title streak in NFL history. Their path to the postseason has also narrowed significantly to 6-7.

They will likely need to win all four of their remaining games and hope teams like the Chargers (8-4) and Colts (8-5) stumble multiple times down the stretch.

In the aftermath of the loss, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid took accountability for several costly decisions. Speaking to reporters in the post-game conference, Reid admitted, "I put the guys, offensively, in a tough position with the fourth downs [calls]."

He acknowledged that his aggressive approach on multiple fourth-down attempts put the offense in a difficult spot, adding, "I was trying to stay aggressive with it. I take full responsibility for that. I thought we could get it. It's important that you take advantage of opportunities. In hindsight, it was wrong. I messed that one up."

The setback dealt another blow to the Kansas City Chiefs' already slim postseason hopes.

ESPN's analytics model now gives the Chiefs just a 12% chance to reach the playoffs. Still, Reid refused to concede anything.

"Listen, it's never over, so you keep battling," he said. "I've been doing this a long time. I've seen some things, so you keep going."

Defensive captain Chris Jones echoed that mindset, insisting the team isn't giving up.

"We've still got an opportunity," he insisted. "Even though it's a slim opportunity, we have an opportunity. For us, the door is still open. It might be a 10 percent chance. It might be a 5 percent chance."

Jones continued, "But as long as we have an opportunity and a chance, we can control that, and let the cards fall where they fall."