By his lofty standard, Travis Kelce endured a disappointing regular season for the Kansas City Chiefs. But when the calendar flipped to January, the 35-year-old reminded everyone why he will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame when his playing days are done.
Kelce was a key contributor to the Chiefs‘ 23-14 divisional round win over the Houston Texans, which sealed Kansas City‘s progression to a seventh successive AFC Championship Game. Kelce hauled in seven passes for 117 yards and a vital fourth-quarter touchdown from a falling Patrick Mahomes — which may have been a surprise to some, given that Kelce only caught three touchdown passes during the regular season. But head coach Andy Reid certainly wasn’t surprised at Kelce’s resurgence.
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Reid: Better support for Kelce helps him shine
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Reid said the Chiefs’ return to health improved the supporting cast around Kelce, who often found himself blanketed or wrapped up quickly when he did catch the ball during the regular season. That led to Kelce’s career-low 823 receiving yards and 8.5 yards per catch mark.
“I’m happy for him with the seven catches and all that, but I think more of it is just we have a variety of guys around him,” Reid said. “The opportunities that he’s had he’s done well with, and I don’t think it’s his play that has been reduced. When everybody asks about age, by age or physical ability or anything, I just think that you have a variety of guys that we’ve been able to use around him. When we didn’t, teams were ganging up on him. It’s a good problem now because guys are healthy, and we’ve got choices out there and they can’t really just focus on him.”
Indeed, the presence of Xavier Worthy and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown opened the middle of the field for Kelce, who rumbled into the Texans‘ defensive backfield on multiple occasions. The Chiefs mustered only 212 yards of offense at Arrowhead Stadium, but it didn’t matter — a stout defense and the timely return of the Mahomes-Kelce connection equaled another divisional round victory, irrespective of questionable refereeing decisions that benefitted Kansas City.
That said, the Buffalo Bills roll into Arrowhead Stadium this Sunday, and Josh Allen is extremely motivated to get one over on Mahomes and the Chiefs after three playoff losses to Kansas City this decade. However, when all else fails, Kelce can turn to good luck charm Taylor Swift, high above the action in her suite at Arrowhead; the Chiefs are a perfect 7-0 in games Swift has watched in-person this season.