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Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen delivered another classic duel between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, but it was a momentary camera shot of Travis Kelce leaving the field that sparked intrigue as the final moments of the fourth quarter ticked away.

For the first time this season, NFL fans got to see how Kansas City would react to a loss. The CBS on NFL crew did not miss the opportunity to focus on Kelce.

The Chiefs’ star tight end struggled without his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, in attendance. He finished with just two catches for eight yards in the 30-21 defeat.

It was Kelce’s second-lowest receiving output in a game this year, barely topping his Week 2 line of one catch for five yards against the Cincinnati Bengals.

In the Chiefs’ previous three games coming into Sunday, Kelce had been on fire, racking up 32 receptions for 254 yards and two touchdowns.


It was the 6th game of his entire career with under 10 receiving yards, and 2nd this season pic.twitter.com/8wZVkS47Pu

— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) November 18, 2024

When Mahomes’ last-ditch fourth down heave to Kelce was intercepted by the Bills with 1:07 left in the game, Kelce walked off the field making this gesture.

It’s unclear if the clap was to pick up his teammates, to show respect to Buffalo or to be “petty” to Bills Mafia. In any case, it drew plenty of attention on social media.

When the Chiefs beat the Bills in January’s AFC Divisional Round playoff game, the 34-year-old had a much different reaction to the Buffalo fans as the clock wound down, blowing them a kiss goodbye.

After Sunday’s contest, Kansas City (9-1) and Buffalo (9-2) have the two best records in the AFC. Whatever meaning NFL fans choose to assign to Kelce’s eyebrow-raising clap, it will rank low on the long list of reasons why everybody wants to see this matchup again in the postseason.