Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce pile into his Rolls Royce en route to their New Year’s Eve festivities after his Chiefs came back to beat the Bengals in front of the adoring pop star at Arrowhead

Travis Kelce’s 2023 ended with one victory and his 2024 begins with another: spending some quality time with his girlfriend, Taylor Swift.

The All-Pro tight end had just three receptions, but his Kansas City Chiefs still rallied to beat the visiting Cincinnati Bengals, 25-17, to clinch their eighth consecutive AFC West crown.

The pair were then taken by chauffeured golf cart to the players’ parking lot, where DailyMail.com cameras caught Kelce fleeing with Swift in his Rolls Royce. While Swift sported a Chiefs varsity jacket emblazoned with his nickname, ‘Tay-Ta,’ Kelce was comfortably dressed in a sweatshirt and a knit hat that covered his shaved head.

And, being the gentleman that he is, Kelce would surely open the door for her on their New Year’s Eve date.

The two are believed to ring in the year 2024 with family and friends at a private party in the Kansas City area. Kelce’s mother, Donna, was seen in Swift’s luxury box that same night.

Late in the quarter, cameras caught Swift celebrating the impending victory with a young fan when Kansas City’s 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 receptions for 16 yards on four targets. He is just a few yards away from his eighth consecutive 1,000-yard season.

But for the Chiefs (10-6), the victory was significant. Not only does Kansas City win its eighth consecutive AFC West crown, but it comes after a miserable 3-8 skid that threatened its entire season. Naturally, many have suggested that Swift was somehow culpable for distracting Kelce and the Chiefs from the job at hand, but that wasn’t the case Sunday as Kansas City rallied to beat the Bengals, who fell to 8-8.

Swift reacted joyfully to the win alongside a young fan, raising her finger in the air and yelling in his face.

And as several fans noticed, Swift was wearing a Chiefs jacket with ‘Tay-Tay’ embroidered near the pocket, a reference to Kelce’s rumored nickname for the 34-year-old singer. Swifties went crazy over this on social media, and she noted that they’re happy she adopted the nickname her fanbase gave her.

And as it’s become a familiar scene in Arrowhead, fans brought signs in hopes of getting their attention.

One savvy Chiefs supporter referred to the romantic pair as ‘TNT’ and wrote: ‘They are dynamite!’

Another young attendee wrote that she was “just here for Taylor.”

Harrison Butker was a career-high 6-for-6 on field goal attempts, as Kansas City held the Bengals scoreless on their final seven possessions.

Patrick Mahomes had 245 passing yards and a touchdown for Kansas City (10-6), which also clinched at least the third seed and a home playoff game. Isiah Pacheco rushed 18 times for 130 yards, while Rashee Rice had five receptions for 127 yards.

The Bengals (8-8), fighting for their own playoff lives, led by 10 points early but found themselves trailing 25-17 when Butker scored the last of his field goals, a 46-yarder via a blustery wind, with 2:59 left in the finish. the game.

With one last chance, Jake Browning hit Tyler Boyd to convert a long fourth down and get into Kansas City territory, but consecutive sacks by George Karlaftis and Chris Jones gave the Chiefs eight on the day and ended any comeback hopes. of the Bengals. .

Browning finished with 197 passing yards and a touchdown. Joe Mixon rushed for 65 yards and had the touchdown reception.

Butker converted from 54, 43, 27, 24, 48 and 46 yards, representing the final 18 points of the game.

The Bengals and Chiefs are used to playing high-stakes games when the weather turns frigid, and they’ve played nail-biters in each of the last two AFC championship games. And they’re usually accompanied by a lot of trash talk, whether from elected officials or, in last week’s case, from players like the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase.

The animosity usually extends to the field as well. Midway through the second quarter, Chase and Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed got into a heated argument, and eventually a team-wide scrum resulted in personal fouls being called.

The Bengals took a 10-7 lead when an 8 1/2-minute drive resulted in a field goal and a 6 1/2-minute drive ended in a Mixon touchdown catch. Cincinnati then got the ball back when Trey Hendrickson ran around rookie right tackle Wanya Morris, stripped Mahomes from behind and Sam Hubbard was there to pounce on the loose ball.

Pass interference on Sneed in the end zone set up Browning’s 1-yard touchdown run.

Butker’s first field goal put the Chiefs within 17-10, and they had a chance to take the lead when Mahomes saw Márquez Valdés-Scantling wide open on their next possession. But yet another failed pass, Kansas City’s NFL-leading 40th this season, forced the Chiefs to settle for a field goal to trail 17-13 at halftime.

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-yard line, then drove 82 yards for Butker’s third field goal. And after the Bengals had to punt, Mahomes hit Rashee Rice for 67 yards to set up Butker’s throw and give the Chiefs the lead for good.