For the San Diegans who don’t want the Chargers to go another decade-plus without winning an AFC West race, the recent Super Bowl brought renewed hope.

Travis Kelce, a longtime drag on Chargers efforts, didn’t resemble Travis Kelce throughout the Chiefs’ lopsided defeat in New Orleans.

As if he’d gotten old overnight, Kansas City’s great tight end looked out of place on the football field.

He seemed slow, and less decisive.

Worse, it appeared he’d rather be playing touch football.

Three snaps into his outing, when an Eagles safety banged him a moment after an incompletion, Kelce whirled in anger and accosted him. Later, he shied away from contact on a run-block he typically would attack.

Maybe Kelce was playing with an undisclosed injury. But when a graying NFL tight end who’s one of the sport’s great big-moment competitors becomes contact-averse, that may be a sign he should find something else to do on Sundays.

Even if Kelce decides to return for another season, the dismal performance against the powerful Eagles brought home that his football brilliance isn’t going to shine forever, although Chargers fans must feel like it already has.

In the annual AFC West race, the Chargers have never finished ahead of the Chiefs since Kelce began playing against them in 2014. With Kelce in the lineup, the Chiefs have beaten the Chargers in 18 of 20 games — whether it was Alex Smith or Patrick Mahomes throwing him passes.

Even coach Jim Harbaugh’s transformative first season with L.A. couldn’t stop the four-time All-Pro from leading the Chiefs toward two more victories. The Harbaugh-enhanced Chargers defense would lead the NFL in fewest points allowed.

Giving the Chargers another opportunity to stem K.C.’s dominance, the Chiefs’ top wide receiver exited the teams’ first matchup with a season-ending injury.

Kelce met those challenges, making crucial plays as a receiver, a decoy and a blocker, and the Chiefs pulled out both games. Forced by his teammate’s injury to take on a heavier load, the elderly Kelce still assisted K.C.’s run to an eighth consecutive AFC West title — double the Chargers’ best such streak — and the franchise’s fifth Super Bowl in six years.

The bill seemed to come due against the Eagles. Kelce couldn’t counter their comprehensive dominance.

What Team Spanos couldn’t accomplish, the aging process may now be pulling off.

Kelce is 35, but older in football years. He has played in all but a handful of games across the 11 seasons since he was sidelined for most of his rookie year.

Throughout his career, the Chiefs have relied on him for first downs and touchdowns, forcing him to shoulder more responsibility.

Not that Kelce would complain about it, but the Chiefs’ dynasty that Kelce helped to create has exacted a stiff price.

Over the past six years, the tight end has played in 19 postseason games. That’s like putting another season-plus on his body.

Heck, Kelce has played in more postseason games than the San Diego Chargers did across their 51-year Super Bowl era.

Acknowledging the cumulative strain, Kelce has said he’s weighing whether he should play next season or retire.

A potential compromise solution could be for the Chiefs to promise to bring in more playmakers and scale back Kelce’s workload. If he hasn’t lost the fire to attack another potential 21-game season, Kelce has the savvy to succeed as a part-time player, much as Chargers Hall of Fame tight end Antonio Gates did late in his career.

But the days of Kelce shouldering a young man’s load appear over. And that means the Chargers may be able to finally overcome the Chiefs.