The Kansas City Chiefs had plenty of opportunities to put away the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Instead, they watched an 11-point fourth-quarter lead disappear in a frustrating 28-24 loss. There were missed opportunities, questionable execution, and one particularly costly penalty that erased what could have been the winning touchdown.
But Travis Kelce isn't interested in making excuses. In fact, the veteran tight end believes he's part of the problem.
Speaking on Wednesday's episode of the New Heights podcast, Kelce acknowledged that Kansas City's recurring penalties have become a serious concern. More importantly, he admitted that his own mistakes have contributed to the problem.
"I've been doing this too long to be hurting my team like that," Kelce said.
That's a pretty big admission from someone with his experience.
Travis Kelce takes responsibility for Chiefs' costly mistakes
Kelce revealed that he has committed procedural penalties in three consecutive weeks, repeatedly putting Kansas City's offense in difficult situations.
"Penalties will kill you in this league," Kelce said, adding that the Chiefs are currently hurting themselves in that department.
He wasn't exaggerating about the impact against Denver.
Late in the fourth quarter, right tackle Jaylon Moore was flagged for a false start that wiped out a would-have-been go-ahead touchdown. Kansas City still had another opportunity to score, but couldn't finish the drive.
Kelce defended Moore, making it clear that the loss couldn't be pinned on one player or one penalty. He also pointed to the offense's inability to execute in the running game near the goal line.
That distinction is important. The Chiefs didn't lose because of one official's flag. They had opportunities to win and failed to take advantage of them.
For an offense led by Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, and Kelce, those mistakes are becoming increasingly difficult to explain.
Chiefs need more than promises to clean things up
Kelce believes Kansas City already has the personnel and coaching staff necessary to correct its problems.
He also made it clear what needs to change before the Chiefs face the New York Jets.
"If we clean up penalties, man, I think we could be as good as we want to be in this league," Kelce said.
That's encouraging, but Chiefs fans have heard plenty about correcting mistakes before.
At some point, accountability needs to produce results on the field. Kelce deserves credit for publicly acknowledging his role rather than throwing a teammate under the bus. Still, recognizing a problem and actually fixing it are two different things.
Kansas City has enough talent to compete with anyone. What it cannot afford is to keep handing opponents opportunities through mistakes that should have been corrected weeks ago.
Kelce knows it. Now the Chiefs have to prove they can do something about it.
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