For a team that currently sits at 3-0 and has its sights set on a third consecutive Super Bowl title, there sure has been a lot of consternation about the state of the Kansas City Chiefs offense of late. Despite the acquisitions of free agent Marquise Brown and first-round pick Xavier Worthy, the passing game remains frustratingly dink-and-dunk — and more and more reliant on Patrick Mahomes’ individual wizardry to bail them out. Far be it from me to question the brilliance of No. 15, but that doesn’t feel like the most sustainable formula, especially after back-to-back narrow escapes against the Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons.
Perhaps the most concerning trend in K.C. has been the play of tight end Travis Kelce. The future Hall of Famer has been more or less invisible to start the year, catching eight passes for just 69 yards on 12 targets over his first three games. He seems hardly involved for long stretches, and when the Chiefs do get him involved, it’s usually via schemed-up looks near the line of scrimmage rather than anything downfield. Is he nursing an injury? Is he simply over the hill as he approaches his 35th birthday? Have we seen the last of Kelce and Mahomes making magic together over the middle of the field?
No so fast. It appears that Kelce’s demise has been greatly exaggerated, at least if one advanced metric is to be believed.
One key stat that shows Travis Kelce still has plenty left in the tank
Per Fantasy Points’ separation score — basically, a measure of how much separation a player generates from his defender — Kelce still has plenty of gas in the tank. The tight end currently ranks 10th among all players out of the slot so far this season, not too far away from names like CeeDee Lamb.
Kelce might not be getting the ball as much as we’re accustomed to, but it seems like he still has the skills and savvy to get open against NFL defenders. Which makes sense: It was just a few months ago, after all, that we saw him running away from Fred Warner on a key fourth down to help the Chiefs rally past the 49ers in the Super Bowl.
Kelce may be slowing down with age, but it’s hard to believe that he’s become completely cooked overnight. That doesn’t mean that the Chiefs don’t have things to figure out on offense — they still don’t really have any ball-winners on the outside, and Andy Reid seems hard-pressed to come up with easy solutions — but when the chips are down, here’s betting that Kelce will find a way to make an impact.
