Chiefs’ Travis Kelce says responsibility for loss Sunday falls on him because of fumble

The Chiefs had a four-point lead and the ball early in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game in Cincinnati when things turned south.

With a chance to pad the lead and possibly even go up by two scores, the Chiefs instead turned the ball over when tight end Travis Kelce fumbled while trying to gain extra yardage after catching a pass from Patrick Mahomes.

The Bengals recovered and moved 47 yards for a go-ahead touchdown. Those proved to be the final points scored Sunday as Cincinnati won 27-24.

“Hats off to the Bengals,” Kelce said Wednesday on the “New Heights” podcast he hosts with his brother, Eagles center Jason Kelce. “They got me.”

Kelce talked about the play made by Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt and how the turnover has weighed on his mind. (One note: I’ve edited the quotes to remove the cursing).

“I handed ‘em one, man. I handed ‘em one,” Kelce said. “As much as I’ve talked about being accountable and at my best when the team needs me to be at my best in critical moments, I wasn’t. And it’s unfortunate, man. That stings. I ain’t had much energy since. I’ve been trying to get the juices going and get excited about the Denver Broncos this week. But that stings man. And the way I wasn’t accountable for my guys, knowing how big of a moment that was, and having ball security is the utmost No. 1 thing that needs to be on your mind when you have the ball in your hand in a moment like that.

“I got caught down by my hip, trying to break through a tackle, and he got a good grasp on it early and saw me fighting for it. And sure enough, that thing popped out, and I let the dreams, goals and aspirations of the entire team out as well when that happened. So it’s just not being accountable and digging ourselves a hole that we didn’t even need to dig.”

Kelce’s brother pointed out the turnover took place early in the fourth quarter and how the Chiefs had another chance to score.

But the Chiefs didn’t and they lost to the Bengals for the third straight time in 2022.

“I think when you get down to it, penalties, mistakes that we made and then on top of that, we gotta beat drop-eight coverage man,” Kelce said. “Even when they are other dropping eight (on pass defense), we’ve got to find a way to to get open in voids and get open for Pat, and then on top of that, protect him back there.

“So it’s all fixable stuff. If I hold on to that ball, we go down there and score at least whatever. If we get a field goal, we get a touchdown, we’re still up. And it’s just one of those you’ve got to eat and you gotta learn from it, and you got to make sure that you’re accountable the next time, and that’s just the bottom line, man.”

Kelce also spoke about his mentality after the fumble and lamented that the Chiefs’ final offensive drive ended with a missed field goal.

“Obviously I’m thinking every time I touch the ball now, hold on to that thing with your life — not that I wasn’t before,” Kelce said. “I actually think that I have good ball security and I practice that all the time when I’m in tight quarters. But at the same time, once it happens, it’s kind of a situation where even though they scored they’re only up three. We got an opportunity to go up four if we execute.

“We have plenty of time to drive the ball down the field. We got into striking range and kind of stalled out. Pat got some pressure. Guys weren’t getting open and Pat got pressure. It is what it is. And we’ve got to find ways to execute in those big-time moments. And at the end of the day, come away with points. Don’t just let them get the ball back on the 40-yard line with an opportunity to close the game out.”

Kelce’s brother asked if he would do more drills to avoid fumbling.

“I don’t want to put too much emphasis on it,” said Kelce, who has just six fumbles over the last six seasons. “The more I focus on that, the less I become the player that I am. Where I can think free and play free. But it obviously lost us the game in my mind. So I gotta do something to fix that.

“At this point, I’m just itching at the bit to get up and get back out there. You know, prove that I am who I know I can be. That’s really all you can do about it.”