For the second week in a row, the Kansas City Chiefs were on the road — and Taylor Swift was again MIA for her husband Travis Kelce’s game.
Swift seemingly skipped the Chiefs’ away game after making a surprise Saturday Night Live cameo alongside BFF and host Dakota Johnson the previous evening. While the singer has access to a private plane, the cross-country turnaround would have been a trek. (Yes, even for Swift.)
Swift’s absence in Las Vegas was relatively expected — she did not attend a single road game in 2025 and missed the Chiefs’ first road game of the season last week against the Miami Dolphins.
The Chiefs’ 24-10 win over Miami on September 27 came the same day that Swift received the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles.
“I’ve gotten to be a part of making 60 music videos, roughly … 18 of those I wrote and directed, and I really love writing and directing music,” Swift said in her acceptance speech. “I got to tell you, though, the main reason why I love writing and directing music videos so much is because you, the fans, make it so much fun. You make it so rewarding because you actually care about what we’re making. So, you know, I want to say thank you to everyone who ever worked on a music video that I got to be a part of. I learned something from every single person that ever worked alongside me on these projects. Mainly, I want to say thank you to the fans.”
Swift then showed the audience the “Patient Zero” music video. She released the song two days earlier, along with “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding” and “Babylon” as part of The Life of a Showgirl: Encore.
Kelce, who grew up in Ohio, spoke glowingly of “Cleveland!” while discussing the Cleveland Guardians’ MLB Postseason run with his brother, Jason Kelce, on their “New Heights” podcast.
“Cleveland is rocking right now,” he said during the Wednesday, September 30, episode. “Shout-out to Tay Tay for making that song.”
“Dude, that song is incredible,” Jason replied. “Kylie and I have been listening to it so much. There’s just something about it [that] makes you feel really good.”
After playing the Raiders, the Chiefs head into their bye week. They’ll return to the field on October 18 at home against the Los Angeles Chargers.
