On a day where Travis Kelce deserved to be happy, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end had no interest in celebrating. Despite his best efforts, which included a team-leading 91 receiving yards and 9 catches, including a 21-yard touchdown catch, Kelce and the rest of the Chiefs' roster suffered a 22-19 road loss to the Denver Broncos that plummeted them further out of the AFC playoff picture.
Despite the loss, Kelce set a franchise record for most regular-season touchdowns in a career on Sunday. The future Hall of Famer passed Priest Holmes with his 84th touchdown catch, a tremendous achievement that should have been accompanied by fanfare. Instead, [Kelce didn't want to talk to reporters](https://arrowheadaddict.com/travis-kelce-gives-blunt-response-after-chiefs-loss-to-the-broncos) about any of it following the game.
The Chiefs came out of Week 11 with a 5-5 record and a firm grip on third place in the four-team AFC West. That's a far cry from comfortable territory for a team used to running the division, with 9 consecutive AFC West titles. But this season has been disturbing since an odd Week 1 loss to the L.A. Chargers, which has led to plenty of fan frustration.
Chiefs Kingdom is not alone in its negativity. [Kelce appeared on a new episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5vd_jStRXc) of his podcast, _New Heights_, on Wednesday and was quite open about the team's lack of success.
Travis Kelce's words on _New Heights_ reveal how desperate things feel at Arrowhead.
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“It’s frustrating because it’s gotten to the point where we’re 5-5," said Kelce. "We’re .500 going into the back end of the schedule here. We’ve got seven games left, and we’ve basically gotta run the table. I haven’t been in this situation in a long, long time, man, and it’s even more frustrating knowing the kind of guys we have, knowing the kind of talent we have, knowing the type of coaches that we have.
"Everybody has got to look at themselves in the mirror. You can’t sit around pointing fingers about whether it’s somebody missing a block here, somebody missing a catch here, play calls—whatever you go into mentally when you’re frustrated, you gotta kick that s—t aside and think about how you’re gonna f—king attack the day. You’ve gotta put all the selfish s—t, all those things that you want for yourself aside, and it’s just gotta be about this team, about the guy next to you, and you’ve gotta have fun doing it."
Kelce also knows the schedule doesn't do them many favors down the stretch, beginning in Week 12. The Indianapolis Colts are next on the slate, and the AFC South leaders are 8-2 overall and coming out of the bye. The NFL's top-ranked offense has been the surprise of the season so far, and Kelce says the Chiefs are very aware of what it will take to beat them.
"We’ve got a helluva team coming in that’s fired on all cylinders, that looks like they’re getting after everybody in the run game and pass game," said Kelce. "We’re going to have to put up f—king points if we want to help our defense.
"Last week, we didn’t do that. This week, it’s about time we put it together. We’ve seen what this train looks like when we’re rocking and rolling and we’re having fun, and we just need to get back to playing Chiefs football."
It remains to be seen whether Kelce's challenge to his teammates will help repair a sinking ship, but time will tell soon enough. The Colts are scheduled to take on the Chiefs at Arrowhead on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT.