National Football League

How the Chiefs schemed for weeks to turn Travis Kelce into ‘Playoff Trav’

Published Jan. 21, 2025 12:23 p.m. ET

Travis Kelce's opening catch against the Houston Texans on Saturday will tell you a lot about what the Kansas City Chiefs have done with their offense over the past few weeks.

It's not that Andy Reid is doing something unrecognizable, exactly. He's doing much of what he's always done. To some degree, the key players are less recognizable.

Reid and Patrick Mahomes have found production with rookie receiver Xavier Worthy and even tight end Noah Gray. But it's not like Kelce has altogether disappeared. That's what made the divisional round so strange. Houston often lost track of the greatest pass-catching tight end in NFL history. You know: the guy dating Taylor Swift. And the guy who is among the most prolific pass-catchers in the history of the postseason? We all know him.

"It's Playoff Trav," Mahomes said after the game.

But it was like the Texans forgot who he was.

That was on display from Kelce's first catch. He was wide open to catch and run for 23 yards. All year, the Chiefs have complained that Kelce has been double-teamed. (Those claims were not totally accurate, but that's a whole different argument.) On this play, it was Worthy who got the double team. He was streaking downfield and the safeties bracketed him to prevent a big play. As Mahomes rolled out to his right, the QB seemed to do something with his eyes to make it seem like he would target Gray. So two Texans linebackers stepped up at once (away from Kelce). Mahomes easily floated the ball to his favorite target for a big gain.

Six weeks ago, Kelce wouldn't have been that open.

Not before Worthy legitimized himself. Not before Gray legitimized himself.

"I just think that you have a variety of guys that we've been able to use around [Kelce]," Reid said Monday. "And when we didn't, teams were ganging up on him. It's a good problem now because guys are healthy, and we have choices out there and they can't really just focus on him."

Hollywood Brown is healthy. Isiah Pacheco is healthy. JuJu Smith-Schuster is healthy. DeAndre Hopkins joined the team in a trade at midseason. The offense has reliable options everywhere. But that wasn't true for much of the season when, for weeks at a time, Kelce was the best and only option. That's when all the attention was on him.

"The opportunities that he's had, he's done well with," Reid said. "And I don't think it's his play that has been reduced when everybody asks about age or physical ability."

Reid was referring to the season-long narrative that, perhaps, Kelce's play was declining. He's 35 years old, an age when Father Time eats away at agility and top speed. Plus, with all the jet-setting last offseason, Kelce was living a different lifestyle than in previous years. That might have impacted his readiness for the season, but it doesn't sound like it has impacted his mentality in-season.

"I also appreciate that, at his age, he goes out there every day and practices hard," Reid said. "And if you try to take him out, he gets mad at you. I'd say that's a special thing for an older player."

While it's still fair to wonder whether Kelce is still at his peak, there's no doubt that he will punish defenses that forget who he is. There was a prime example against the Texans where Kelce got the Chiefs into the red zone. Houston was in man defense and it left slot defender Myles Bryant to take care of Kelce. If you're wondering: Who is Myles Bryant? Well, that's the point. He was best known for being the biggest liability on the New England Patriots defense for a few years. It's not like the Chiefs recast him — PFF graded Bryant as the 108th-best cornerback in 2024.

Suffice it to say: That's not the guy you want in one-on-one against Kelce.

Kelce took Bryant's lunch money — along with an 18-yard reception that helped set up the tight end's touchdown reception on the ensuing third down.

There have been long stretches where Kelce has been unable to find the end zone. He just had three in the regular season. On his podcast "New Heights," Kelce said it's "f---ing frustrating" that he and Mahomes are "not on the same page" when it came to scoring. That might have been the team's biggest issue in a season where the offense badly needed Kelce's help and he wasn't able to fully provide the star power that we'd previously seen from him.

That's what made Kelce's touchdown on Saturday the most encouraging play for the Chiefs. This Sunday in the AFC Championship Game, the Bills likely won't fail to account for Kelce like the Texans did on that first reception. And I doubt that they'll be silly enough to match him up one-on-one with a player of Bryant's caliber near the red area. The degree of difficulty was astoundingly low for Kelce — until the touchdown. That's when things got interesting.

Kansas City designed the play for that exact scenario. Third-and-long. Zone defense. (That tells you something about the Chiefs' level of preparation.) Mahomes knew he wanted Kelce from the jump, but the QB told reporters that the play took longer to develop, which meant patience and — with luck — a longer-than-normal clean pocket. When the pressure arrived, Mahomes stepped forward and, as he was falling to the ground, zipped a ball into the area where he knew Kelce would get open: just behind the linebacker.

"It's big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games and that's just how simple it is," Mahomes said. "He's one of those guys."

The Chiefs have spent weeks showing off their depth of pass-catchers. Hey, look at D-Hop! But don't forget about Worthy's speed as a runner and pass-catcher! Hollywood can run every route, too! And if you think you've got us figured out with those guys, we'll run it down your throat with Pacheco and Kareem Hunt!

Last weekend, the Texans had all that on their minds. And Kelce beat them.

No one envies Bills coach Sean McDermott and defensive coordinator Bobby Babich. They will spend the AFC Championship Game juggling flaming daggers, which is just how Reid planned it. He excels at making opponents' lives complicated at the worst possible moment.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.

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