It was an "astronomical" level of shade.
The Philadelphia Eagles faced off against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night for the first time since Super Bowl LVII back in February. But this time, the Eagles fared better, defeating the Chiefs in a tight 21–17 victory, now leading the NFL season with a 9–1 record. And to celebrate, the team did a victory lap by trolling their rival with a Taylor Swift reference.
The dig was to poke fun at the mania surrounding the relationship between Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce and the Pennsylvania-born pop star, which has been dominating headlines since the pair began dating in September. However, Kelce admitted back in July that he had previously attempted to shoot his shot with Swift during the Kansas City stop of her Eras tour by giving her a friendship bracelet with his number on it—to no avail, at the time.
"In our winning era," the Eagles posted to the team's social media accounts, along with a DIY friendship bracelet spelling out "EAGLES WIN," in the style Swift fans are seen wearing at her concerts.
In our winning era pic.twitter.com/SnnPIUyU0i
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 21, 2023
"OH THIS LEVEL OF SHADE IS ASTRONOMICAL," all-caps commented one user, along with several cry-face emojis. "It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero, huh Eagles?" added another, referencing Swift's single from her 2022 album, Midnights. "We have the sexiest Kelce alive," wrote one fan, referring to Travis Kelce's brother, Eagles center Jason Kelce.
But while whoever runs the Eagles social media may have been feeling smug following the win, the team was decidedly less so, as many felt they weren't playing at top form.
"Listen, I'm really happy," said Jason Kelce following the matchup. "I would have probably been happier if we would have put together a really dominant performance offensively and played great. I think the fact that we didn't do that makes it a littler bittersweet. I think the defense is largely why we won the game today. Hats off to those guys, and I'm certainly happy to be 9-1."
"I don't think we played clean tonight. I don't think we played to our standard—nowhere near our standard," explained quarterback Jalen Hurts. "When you win games like we've won games, that builds a ton of character. We're kind of in, I guess, character development mode with the games we've played and how we've won. It can only serve us for great things in the future."
Given the Chiefs 7–3 record, there's a legitimate chance the two teams will face off in the Super Bowl for the second year in a row, so it goes without saying that the Eagles will need all the character development they can get.
