Travis Kelce on Pro Bowl: 'Hopefully I don't have to go'
By David Kenyon
Travis Kelce has earned his first career Pro Bowl nod, but the Kansas City Chiefs tight end doesn’t want to make the trip to Hawaii. He’d rather be preparing for the Super Bowl.
“Hopefully I don’t have to go,” Kelce said, per Pete Sweeney of the team’s official site. “Our eyes are on the prize.”
Kansas City appearing in the league championship game — which means the roster’s five Pro Bowl players would skip the star-studded game — would complete a rather improbable run.
Following a season-opening dismantling of the Houston Texans where Kelce caught two touchdowns, Andy Reid’s team lost five consecutive games and watched running back Jamaal Charles’ season end because of a torn right ACL. At 1-5, the Chiefs couldn’t afford another loss.
So all they’ve done is win.
Kansas City enters Week 16 riding an eight-game winning streak and on the verge of securing a postseason berth. In fact, the franchise has a chance to hop the Denver Broncos and steal the AFC West.
If the Chiefs edge the Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders to finish the season while Denver falls to either the Cincinnati Bengals or San Diego Chargers, Kansas City would earn the tiebreaker thanks to a 5-1 division record.
Regardless of a potential AFC West crown, though, the Chiefs are practically a lock to reach the playoffs. They also hold a tiebreaker over the 9-5 New York Jets — who must play the 12-2 New England Patriots on Sunday — so a loss doesn’t necessarily eliminate Kelce and Co.
Kansas City is the conference’s hottest team and boasts a defense that has surrendered more than 20 points just twice over the last 11 games, so the Chiefs reaching the Super Bowl isn’t as crazy as it sounded after Week 6.
If that’s the alternative, passing up on a trip to Hawaii wouldn’t be so bad.
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