When Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce made his season debut in 2023, he got targeted nine times in the passing game but mustered just four receptions for 26 yards and a touchdown. He responded with a seven-catch, 69-yard outing the following week, adding another score to his total and calming some outsiders' nerves in the process.
Just two days shy of a full year later, Kelce wrapped up his third game of 2024-25 with his third underwhelming week in a row. While his four receptions and 30 yards are all season-highs, they both would've marked some of his worst outputs from the campaign prior.
Sunday's win over the Atlanta Falcons featured another ho-hum performance from the offense, and Kelce was no different. Despite that, quarterback Patrick Mahomes thinks the attention Kelce commands less than a month away from his 35th birthday is the ultimate sign of respect.
"I mean it's crazy because teams still... the respect factor they have for Travis is just unreal," Mahomes said. "It's well-deserved but we're calling a lot of plays for Travis and it's like two or three people are going to him. He understands. I think that's the great thing about him is he wants to make an impact in the game but he wants to win at the end of the day. I'm going to try to do my best to keep feeding him the ball whenever he's there, whenever he's open."
Kelce certainly took a step in the right direction in Week 3, trailing only Rashee Rice among all Chiefs pass catchers in targets, receptions and yards. The gap between those two players, however, was extreme (Rice had 14 targets and 12 receptions for 110 yards). Three games into the season, Kelce still has yet to find the end zone. His two catches in the second half were nice, including a 17-yard one in the third quarter that set Kansas City up in the red zone.
After last weekend's win over the Cincinnati Bengals, Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid expressed that Kelce would eventually get his big-time numbers. No one came off as worried that this is the new normal for one of the greatest tight ends in league history. This remains the case a week later, but each game that passes without a vintage Kelce effort – or anything resembling it – will draw more and more attention to his stats.
Although he's lost a considerable amount of athleticism compared to his prime, Kelce is still capable of getting open. His mind remains sharp, too, so there's no questioning his ability on paper. For one reason or another, though, he isn't getting targets or catches within the flow of the offense. Perhaps a larger sample size will allow that window to open.
Mahomes thinks that if others get (or in Rice's case, stay) going and Kelce keeps chugging along, the rest will take care of itself.
"I think the more Rashee makes plays, the more we're able to run the football, the more we can get (Xavier) Worthy involved, I think that's going to open Travis up more," Mahomes said. "People are really emphasizing trying to take him away, and it's getting other guys open."
