NFL News NFL News, Reports and Updates
Henry McKenna
NFL Reporter
Travis Kelce is there and then he isn’t.
He’s the best tight end in the NFL, but he only produces like it once every few weeks. The Kansas City Chiefs star finished Sunday’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders with 10 catches for 90 yards and a touchdown. It was his biggest game of the year (and his first touchdown). But it’s hard to say whether he’ll put up big numbers like that in Week 9 or whether he’ll fade back into the fray.
With a hot-and-cold start, he’s on pace for 92 catches, 813 yards and two touchdowns.
It’s not like the 35-year-old Kelce is a player in decline. But it’s also not like his production is a faucet that he’s turning it on and off as he pleases. Because in that case, he’d probably be producing when the games are tightest. There’s no real correlation between the margin of victory and Kelce’s production. He had just one catch in the Chiefs’ one-point win over the Bengals in Week 2, but put up nine catches for 70 yards in the team’s 13-point win over the Saints in Week 5.
Certainly, he has seen an uptick in production since the injury to receiver Rashee Rice in Week 4. Over the past four games (including the game when Rice hurt his knee), Kelce has averaged nine targets, 7.5 catches and 66.5 yards per game. He is also averaging 3.5 first downs per game.
That’s why I think it’s head coach Andy Reid — not Kelce — who is turning off the faucet of the tight end’s production.
Against the Raiders, Kelce was clearly the offensive focal point. You could see it in the game plan. It was the most designed plays I’d seen the Chiefs run to their tight end all year — with the Saints matchup looking like a close second.
Reid wanted to get the ball to Kelce — including on the tight end’s first touchdown of the year. Patrick Mahomes said as much.
“Without giving away all our secrets, we knew the coverage that they were going to play, and we knew that guy was going to be going over…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/travis-kelce-patrick-mahomes-deandre-hopkins-what-to-expect-from-chiefs
Author :
Publish date : 2024-10-30 14:54:58
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
