By Alex Raskin Sports Editor for Dailymail.com
03:47 01 January 2024, updated 08:08 01 January 2024
- Kelsey and Swift were seen arriving separately earlier Sunday morning
- It is believed that the two will spend New Year's Eve with friends and family
- Read more: Swift, Chiefs fans rejoice as Kansas City beats Cincinnati, 25-17
Travis Kelce's 2023 ended with a win and he'll start 2024 with another: spending quality time with his girlfriend, Taylor Swift.
The All-Pro tight end had just three points, but the Kansas City Chiefs came back to beat the visiting Cincinnati Bengals, 25-17, for their eighth straight AFC West title.
The pair were then taken in a golf cart to the players' parking lot, where DailyMail.com cameras captured Kelsey escaping with Swift in his Rolls Royce. While Swift wore a Chiefs jacket emblazoned with her nickname, “Tay Ta,” Kelsey was dressed comfy in sweats and a knit hat covering his shaved head.
And like the gentleman he is, Kelsey was sure to open the door for his date on New Year's Eve.
It is believed the two will connect in 2024 with family and friends in a private ceremony in the Kansas City area. Kelsey's mother, Donna, was spotted in Swift's luxury box earlier in the evening.
Late in the fourth period, cameras caught Swift celebrating the impending victory with a young fan when Kansas City Chiefs' Chris Jones sacked Bengals quarterback Jake Browning on Cincinnati's final drive.
Kelce was almost a non-factor for Patrick Mahomes & Co., finishing the game with just three catches for 16 yards on four targets. He's still just a few yards shy of his eighth straight 1,000-yard season.
But for the 10-6 Chiefs, the victory was significant. Not only did Kansas City win their eighth straight AFC West title, but it came after a miserable 3-8 stretch that threatened their entire season. Naturally, many suggested that Swift was somehow responsible for distracting Kelce and the Chiefs from the task at hand, but that was not the case on Sunday as Kansas City came back to defeat the Bengals, who fell to 8-8.
Swift happily reacted to the win with one young fan, raising her finger in the air and shouting at the boy.
As a number of fans noticed, Swift was wearing a Chiefs jacket with the word “Tay-Tay” embroidered near her pocket, a reference to Kelsey's rumored nickname for the 34-year-old singer. Swifties took offense to this on social media, stating that they were happy that he adopted her fan base's nickname.
As the scene became familiar at Arrowhead, fans brought signs in hopes of attracting her attention.
One witty Chiefs supporter referred to the romantic pair as “TNT”, writing: “They're dynamite!”
One young attendee wrote that she was “just here for Taylor.”
Harrison Butker was a career-best 6-for-6 on field goal attempts, and Kansas City held the Bengals scoreless over their final seven possessions.
Patrick Mahomes had 245 yards passing and a touchdown for Kansas City (10-6), which also guaranteed at least a No. 3 seed and one playoff berth at home. Isiah Pacheco ran 18 times for 130 yards while Rashee Rice had five catches for 127 yards.
The Bengals (8-8), fighting for their lives in the playoffs, led by 10 points early but found themselves trailing 25-17 when Butker made his last field goal — a 46-yarder through gusty winds — with 2:59 remaining in the game.
With one last chance, Jake Browning hit Tyler Boyd to convert the ball on fourth down and get into Kansas City territory, but back-to-back sacks by George Karlaftis and Chris Jones gave the Chiefs eight on the day and ended the Bengals' hopes of a comeback. .
Browning finished with 197 yards passing and a touchdown. Joe Mixon ran for 65 yards and a TD reception.
Butker converted from 54, 43, 27, 24, 48 and 46 yards, accounting for the final 18 points of the game.
The Bengals and Chiefs are accustomed to playing high-stakes games when the weather turns cold, and they meet in each of the last two games in the AFC Championship Game. It's usually accompanied by a lot of trash talk, whether it's from elected officials or — in last week's case — from players like the Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase.
The hostility usually extends to the field as well. Midway through the second quarter, Chase and cornerback Larios Snead got into a heated argument, and a team-wide rally eventually made up for personal fouls.
The Bengals jumped out to a 10-7 lead when an 8 1/2-minute drive led to a field goal and a 6 1/2-minute drive ended in a Mixon catch. Cincinnati then got the ball back when Trey Hendrickson ran around rookie right tackle Waniya Morris, stripping Mahomes from behind and Sam Hubbard was there to pounce on the loose ball.
Pass interference on Sneed in the end zone to set up Browning's 1-yard TD run.
Butker's first field goal brought the Chiefs within 17-10, and they had a chance to take the lead when Mahomes saw Marquez Valdes-Scantling wide open on the next possession. But another dropped pass — the 40th in the NFL by Kansas City this season — forced the Chiefs to settle for a field goal to trail 17-13 at intermission.
As the Chiefs' defense tightened in the second half, their offense began to show signs of life.
They stuffed the Bengals on fourth-and-1 at the Kansas City 6, then drove 82 yards for Butker's third field goal. After the Bengals were forced to punt, Mahomes hit Rashie Rice for a 67-yard touchdown to set up Butker's punt and give the Chiefs the lead for good.