Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is expected to return next season, per general manager Brett Veach. That is the good news. The bad news is this further delays the Chiefs from finding a true heir apparent for the soon-to-be 36-year-old, and Kansas City has other holes to fill along the offensive line with the looming departure of Trey Smith.

Also, losing the Super Bowl is tough! The number of teams that suffer some form of a Super Bowl hangover is long. The Chiefs don’t want to be the next victim, and the way in which they lost – and how they played against an Eagles team which dominated up front – had the look of a defeated group. I don’t blame the Chiefs one bit for taking some time off before getting back on the grind, but eventually KC has to look forward rather than backward at what happened in early February.

Brett Veach made some excuses for Travis Kelce’s Super Bowl performance

Veach gave Kelce one more out when discussing Super Bowl LIX at the NFL Combine. Veach said Kelce had an illness before the game, and then followed suit suggesting the Chiefs don’t want to make excuses. Well, which is it?

“We’re never going to make excuses and talk about it but he was battling a pretty big illness there before the Super Bowl,” Veach said. “Listen, the way the Eagles played it wouldn’t have made a difference but I think Travis is excited to come back.”

Veach’s second sentiment – that it wouldn’t have mattered given how well the Eagles played – is the most important takeaway. The Eagles were up 24-0 at halftime, and 34-6 after three quarters. While the final score was 40-22 (a blowout for good measure), it wasn’t even that close. The Chiefs were not prepared to beat the Eagles at the line of scrimmage, and Philadelphia took advantage of it.

Travis Kelce was right to take his time with Chiefs retirement decision

The defeat was so hard to take for Kelce that he needed some time after the season to decide upon his future.

“I think I’m gonna take some time to figure it out,” Kelce said. “I think I owe it to my teammates that if I do come back, it’s going to be something that it’s a wholehearted decision, I’m not half-assing it, I’m fully here for them. I think I can play. It’s just whether or not I’m motivated or it’s the best decision for me as a man, as a human, as a person to take on all that responsibility.”

On his New Heights podcast, Kelce commented on the wear and tear the last few seasons have taken on him. The Chiefs win two straight Super Bowls and nearly a third – that is a lot of football games.

To reach the end of that run and lose in embarrassing fashion is a lot to take in. And the way in which Kelce specifically lost, which included a modest stat line of just four receptions and 39 yards, made it even tougher to watch for Chiefs fans.