Has Taylor Swift been a distraction for Travis Kelce and the Chiefs? Not really

As if we were in the superstitious sailing days of yore, where women on ships were considered bad luck and a distraction to the crew, a few commentators on social media are blaming one woman for distracting the Kansas City Chiefs on the football field.

Fox Sports host Skip Bayless took to X, formerly Twitter, after the Chiefs’ loss to the Raiders on Dec 25.: "Feels like it's about time to call Taylor Swift a distraction. What do you think, Patrick? Andy? How about you, Travis?"

Outkick founder Clay Travis posted about Kelce’s promotion of COVID-19 vaccines, as well as his girlfriend. “The Chiefs are not a good football team and Travis Kelce looks like he should retire,” Travis wrote. “He’s been worthless the last seven or eight weeks. The double worthless Pfizer shots may have caught up with him. Either that or Taylor Swift is the Chiefs Yoko Ono. Maybe both.”

But Chiefs head coach Andy Reid says the loss was not tied to a vaccine or a powerful woman.

In a postgame news conference, Reid said: “On offense, we struggled. That's my responsibility to make sure we put the guys in the right position to make plays, and that didn't happen the way we wanted it to. I take full responsibility for the way we played offensively there."

So how did the Chiefs fare this season while Taylor Swift was in attendance?

How many Chiefs football games has Taylor Swift attended?

Invited by Travis Kelce, Swift went to her first Kansas City Chiefs game on Sept. 24. She cheered for a Kelce touchdown as the Chiefs beat the Chicago Bears.

Of the 12 games Swift has attended this season, the Chiefs have won nine and they are on their way to the Super Bowl.

Travis Kelce's regular-season receiving yards

This year, Kelce has played in 18 games and has racked up 1,256 receiving yards. He had 1,257 yards by this time last year.

In the three games Swift attended and the Chiefs lost, Kelce was above average for yards in two of those games.

Offensive stats

The offense has been very un-Chiefs-like in 2023. When Swift was at the game, the offense has been above average in passing and rushing 50% of the time.

Millions of viewers

Though some NFL fans may say Swift is a distraction, she’s certainly driving viewers to tune in to Kansas City games. TV viewership jumped 47% between the Sept. 17 game and Swift’s first appearance at the Sept. 24 game.

Even Nickelodeon has joined in. During its "Nickmas" coverage of the Christmas Day game, Nickelodeon added lots of kid-friendly aspects to the telecast – and a dedicated camera that that kept its eye on Swift at all times. That pushed the TV audience above 29 million.

SOURCES USA TODAY Network reporting and research, Getty Images, Associated Press, NFL, ESPN, FOX, CBS