Travis Kelce hits a different level come playoff time: 'He has the heart of a champion'

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Last weekend, the Chiefs offense needed a play, a highlight to ignite their postseason run, especially since the team is aiming for an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl victory.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes went hunting for a deep completion to start the drive in the middle of the second quarter against the Houston Texans in the AFC divisional-round game. Mahomes’ pass was perfect. The ball was placed where only receiver Marquise Brown could make the catch. The problem, however, was that Mahomes’ pass fell incomplete after an impressive breakup by safety Eric Murray.

Instead of complaining, or showing frustration, Mahomes responded on the next play by trusting the teammate he’s always trusted the most in playoff games: tight end Travis Kelce.

The Texans blitzed, sending Murray as the fifth defender toward Mahomes, on the second-and-10 snap. Mahomes and Kelce quickly noticed the Texans’ coverage before the intermediate completion. What happened next surprised ESPN play-by-play broadcaster Joe Buck, the Texans and most fans watching. Kelce, 35, broke two tackles, which he hadn’t done at any point in the regular season. But once again, Kelce demonstrated his elite ability to perform at his highest level in January, which has become an annual tradition during the Chiefs’ run of reaching seven consecutive AFC Championship Games.

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Kelce gained 49 yards — his longest reception of the season and the first play on which he gained more than 20 yards after the catch, according to Next Gen Stats — to set up running back Kareem Hunt’s 1-yard touchdown run.

“Sometimes in the playoffs, you play with a little bit more emotion, aggression and swagger,” Kelce said on Wednesday’s episode of “New Heights,” the podcast he hosts with his brother, Jason. “You play a little bit better when nobody’s guarding you. … When they rush five, (it’s) less defenders on the back end. You’ve got two (defenders) running with the flat (Brown’s route), nobody over the middle of the field. You just run and replace (that area of the field). Pat was right there in sync with me. That’s a Day 1 install play, so you can play really fast.

“They left me butt-naked open.”

The Texans repeatedly failed to stop Kelce, even though they knew he was Mahomes’ top option. Mahomes’ other pass catchers totaled nine receptions for just 60 yards. But when Mahomes threw the ball to Kelce, the Chiefs’ oldest skill-position player generated a vintage performance — seven receptions on eight targets for 117 yards and a touchdown.

For context, Kelce was the highest-graded pass catcher from the four divisional-round games, earning a 91 grade from Pro Football Focus. When the Texans played zone coverage, Mahomes was able to find Kelce, often in the middle of the field. Kelce’s ninth career playoff game with at least 100 receiving yards broke a tie with Hall of Famer Jerry Rice for the most in NFL history.

“I’ve always known how great of a leader he is,” Mahomes said of Kelce. “I preach it every year: The way he works every single day, it makes my job easier. I knew he was going to do what he did (last week) in the playoffs.

“Every time the moment gets bigger, he plays better. He’ll do whatever it takes to win.”

Early in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs faced a critical third-and-goal from the 11-yard line. Kelce recognized the Texans’ zone coverage, and altered his route — deciding to run to a different area of the end zone in the middle of the play — and was still available and in rhythm with Mahomes.

Trying to move up in the pocket, Mahomes was hit by defensive tackle Mario Edwards Jr., who grabbed his left foot. While falling toward the turf, Mahomes kept his eyes up, showed his strength and flexibility and threw an accurate pass to Kelce between two defenders.

With Kelce back in the spotlight, ahead of the Chiefs’ rematch Sunday against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game, many analysts have understandably concluded that there’s one major reason he elevated his production against the Texans. Most of the Chiefs’ starters had 23 days of rest before the game, their reward for clinching the AFC’s No. 1 seed on Christmas Day.

Many of the Chiefs acknowledged that the break was a great help to Kelce. But several teammates knew Kelce was capable of such an impressive performance because of his diligent, disciplined work during the regular season, some of which they know largely went unnoticed.

“It’s been amazing,” receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who joined the Chiefs via a midseason trade, said of watching Kelce. “He’s one of the best players I’ve ever played with. It’s motivating to see how he goes about practice, his preparation.

“He’s pretty consistent. That’s what makes him great.”

In late July, Kelce started a new routine. After each training camp practice, Kelce spent a few minutes working on his blocking techniques against a blocking sled.

Even if he didn’t say it then, Kelce was working at being just as effective without the ball in his hands as with it.

Kelce was the unsung hero of the Chiefs’ first touchdown this season, a 21-yard run by rookie receiver Xavier Worthy in the win over the Baltimore Ravens. When the play began, Kelce blocked outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy, who fell to his knees and failed to touch Worthy as he sprinted past him. For good measure, Kelce knocked inside linebacker Roquan Smith to the turf as Worthy entered the end zone. In fact, Kelce earned a higher run-blocking grade and pass-blocking grade (60.5 and 69.1) than Noah Gray (60 and 68.5), the Chiefs tight end who is known as much for his blocking as his receiving.

In the Chiefs’ Week 7 win over the San Francisco 49ers, Kelce largely served as a decoy, often gaining the attention of two defenders. The Chiefs also gained 184 rushing yards. Hunt’s first touchdown was a 1-yard run as Kelce moved across the line of scrimmage to block linebacker Fred Warner at the goal line. Later, Kelce blocked cornerback Charvarius Ward and rookie safety Malik Mustapha on Hunt’s 6-yard touchdown run.

Kelce finished with just four receptions on five targets for 17 yards.

“The beautiful part about Travis is he does not care (about statistics),” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said. “He wants to continue to just keep winning. He cares about these trophies. He’s extremely unselfish. How he takes care of his body in practice throughout the week, it’s just special. You’re not going to see many tight ends like him. What he does is rare.”

In September, coach Andy Reid and Nagy weren’t calling many plays with Kelce as Mahomes’ primary option. That role was given to second-year receiver Rashee Rice. Against the Falcons, Rice led the Chiefs with 12 receptions on 14 targets for 110 yards and a touchdown, many of his routes the type that Kelce has executed against zone coverage. But the following week, Rice suffered a season-ending right knee injury.

In midseason, Kelce returned to his usual role in the Chiefs’ passing attack. Their overtime win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers featured Kelce recording a season-high 14 receptions for 100 yards. The bigger star that night, however, was Hopkins, who played in just his second game with the Chiefs, his first at Arrowhead Stadium. While the Buccaneers did their best to cover Kelce in the red zone, Mahomes found Hopkins open for two touchdowns and 86 yards on eight receptions.

“He does a lot of the unseen, unwritten stuff that maybe goes without notice to a lot of the outside world,” Chiefs pass game coordinator Joe Bleymaier said of Kelce. “He makes play happen for everybody else. He teaches the young guys, how we play and how we operate. It’s a typical Travis season, even if the stats might indicate a little bit less (production). He’s as valuable as it comes for everything he brings.”

Kelce finished his 12th regular season with career lows in receiving yards (823), touchdowns (3) and yards per attempt (8.5).

When summarizing Kelce’s season, several members of the Chiefs — Nagy, Bleymaier and Mahomes — unpromptedly connected his sacrifices this season to what he did a little more than a year ago. Before the 2023 regular-season finale, many of Kelce’s teammates wanted him to play a few snaps to gain the 16 yards he needed to reach 1,000 receiving yards for the eighth consecutive season, which would’ve extended the league’s longest such streak for a tight end. Because the Chiefs’ game against the Los Angeles Chargers was meaningless Kelce, for the first time in his career, told Reid he didn’t want to be in uniform.

“It meant a lot to the team that he put the team above himself,” Mahomes said of Kelce. “He obviously could’ve gotten 1,000 yards pretty quickly. He said, ‘That’s not my goal. My goal is to win a Super Bowl.’

“Guys took that and ran with it. It inspired the team. He has the heart of a champion. When your leaders are doing that, I think everybody knows they’ve got to put it all on the line.”

Prioritizing rest for 12 days before the postseason proved to be a wise move by Kelce. Another reason Kelce rested was because he played through two nagging injuries, a hyperextended right knee and a low ankle sprain. His production declined over the second half of the season as his ability to evade defenders or break tackles decreased.

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In the Chiefs’ four-game postseason run to become the NFL’s first back-to-back champion in two decades, Kelce elevated his game, making 32 receptions for 355 yards and three touchdowns.

This season, Kelce tried to preserve his body and energy for the postseason. One way Kelce avoided taking big hits in the middle of the field was by perfecting the lateral pass. He successfully executed his two lateral attempts this season, tossing the ball to running back Samaje Perine each time to help the Chiefs reach the red zone.

“I just appreciate every time I’m on the field with him,” Mahomes said of Kelce. “That started when I first got here. I knew how blessed I was to have that guy on my team.”

Two of Bleymaier’s favorite Kelce plays this season came when he didn’t have the ball.

In the first meeting against the Texans, Kelce recognized their man coverage before the ball was snapped near midfield. Instead of running his route, Kelce blocked the defender assigned to Perine, who got wide open on a wheel route for a 36-yard gain. Four days later, in the Chiefs’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day, Kelce recognized a blitz by strong safety DeShon Elliott. After Kelce blocked Elliott, Mahomes connected with receiver Justin Watson for his lone deep pass of the game — a 49-yard strike.

“He does that and it looks easy for him,” Bleymaier said of Kelce. “Those are unwritten. That’s just Travis knowing the defense, setting things up for people when he’s not getting the ball. It’s just endless, really.”

When he ran routes against the Steelers, Kelce feasted against their zone coverage, recording eight receptions for 84 yards, including a touchdown, one where he was wide open in the back of the end zone. It was Kelce’s 77th receiving touchdown, moving him past Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez for the most receiving touchdowns in franchise history.

“I wish it was just a switch, that I could say, ‘It’s time to go, and I’m ready to play,’” Kelce said on his podcast. “It’s not what it is. Throughout the year, we try and play our best every single week. I’m doing everything I can to help my team win. Over the course of a season, we have a method and formula from Coach Reid that we just gradually get better as the season goes on.”

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While sitting on the bench during the second half of Saturday’s game, Kelce looked up at the fans inside Arrowhead, watching the home crowd celebrate another Chiefs win in this era of January games.

“This b—- is rocking today, man,” Kelce told running back Keaontay Ingram. “I’m telling you, dawg: There’s nothing like playoff atmosphere, man. That’s the most fun you could ever have in life, dawg. We’ve only got so many of these, man. You can never lose sight of that, no matter how hard it gets.

“You’ve got to embrace how hard it is and really enjoy that, man. The only way to do it.”

Since Kelce became a star — and after he helped the Chiefs capture the Vince Lombardi Trophy to end the 2019 season — he has attempted to chase the highest level of greatness. His goal this season, even if it wasn’t going to be reflected in his statistics, was to be a greater version than he was in 2023. He pushed himself and the rest of the Chiefs to become repeat champions because he knows those teams stand out in the discussions of all-time greats.

Kelce knows the Chiefs could perhaps be the league’s greatest dynasty if they pull off the three-peat.

In fact, no repeat champion has ever made it to the Super Bowl the next season. The Chiefs likely will need another memorable performance from Kelce in Sunday’s game against the Bills to advance to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.

He’s done it before. When theses teams played in the conference championship in 2020, Kelce produced 13 receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns. A year later, in the divisional round, Kelce’s intelligence gave the Chiefs the advantage in a disadvantageous situation. On a drive that began with 13 seconds left in regulation, Kelce told Mahomes he didn’t want to run his intended route. Kelce wanted to ad-lib, running a route he thought the Bills could never anticipate. His nifty route started with him leaning to the left, which gave the impression he was heading toward the sideline, the area the one defender was most responsible for covering. But with his left foot, Kelce then shifted his body back forward, a slick out-and-up route, before turning his head toward Mahomes, who delivered it to him in stride for a season-saving 25-yard reception.

After kicker Harrison Butker forced overtime with a 49-yard field goal, Kelce ended the game with a walk-off 8-yard touchdown reception.

Last year, also in the divisional round, Kelce led the Chiefs to their first road playoff victory with Mahomes by generating 75 yards and two touchdowns.

“I mean, he’s inevitable, bro,” safety Justin Reid said of Kelce after Saturday’s game. “Every week, people have questions: Is he done? Is he going to retire? Yada, yada, yada. Then he comes out here and he’s Travis Kelce. Him and (Mahomes) are just so special with what they do.”

Before Sunday’s game, Kelce shared on his podcast that he has experienced triumph and heartbreak in the AFC Championship Game.

More than continuing one of his most impressive statistical streaks — he has 70 or more yards in 14 consecutive playoff games, the longest streak in NFL history — Kelce explained that he knows exactly what he needs to do for the Chiefs to have the success he desires.

“The biggest thing for me,” he said, “is just going out there and playing my f—— tail off for these guys next to me, man.”

(Top illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; photos: David Eulitt / Getty Images)



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