Consternation surrounding Travis Kelce's slow start to the season proved unfounded.
The star Kansas City Chiefs tight end generated seven catches for 89 yards in Sunday's 17-10 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. He earned more receiving yards in Week 4 (89) than he did in Weeks 1-3 combined (69).
"Yeah. They played quite a little bit of zone out there and Kelce did a nice job of just getting in windows," Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said after the win. "Then when they did play man, he was able to do a nice job there. There wasn't as much double team as maybe you've seen or settling on him as much as he's seen, so he did very good."
According to Next Gen Stats, the Chargers played zone on 82.4% of the snaps on Sunday. Kelce generated 26 receiving yards over expected, his most this season and the third-most by any tight end in 2024. Kelce was targeted on nine of his 31 routes (29.0%), his first time earning a target rate over 16.0% this year, per NGS.
With 922 career catches, Kelce passed Tony Gonzalez (916) for the most receptions in Chiefs history.
Even as the Chiefs got off to a 3-0 start, questions swirled around Kelce's lack of production. Everyone in the organization dismissed any concerns heading into Sunday's AFC West showdown.
Reid noted that he didn't need to see a performance like Sunday to know Kelce still has it.
"Well, I really don't care what anybody thinks," Reid said. "I watch what the defense does and how they respect him. I take it off of that and I watch Trav every day, so I get to see him and how he works. He never wants to come out in practice, and the game, he's all in all the time. So, I don't know, I don't worry about all that."
Chiefs receivers wore T-shirts in support of Kelce during pregame.
"It's a close-knit group and that whole room, the whole offense is very close. I mean we've been through adversity together, we've been on a lot of road trips, going to the Super Bowl, and a lot of these guys has been to at least one of the Super Bowls," quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. "You build this brotherhood and I think they had heard all of the outside noise and they know how much of a leader Travis is. It was cool to see them show their support, and him to go out there and be Travis because that's who he is."
Kelce led the Chiefs with nine targets on the day, a needed production after wideout Rashee Rice exited early with what is believed to be a serious knee injury.
"I think it's a mixture of everything," Mahomes said of Kelce's increased involvement. "Obviously, with Rashee Rice going out early, you've got to put Kelce back in that situation where he is getting a high volume of catches. And then the Chargers were taking away some of the outside stuff, leaving the middle of the field open and we were able to get it to Trav in some of those zone coverages. But I mean the whole Kelce thing in general hasn't been a worry to me. I know whenever we need him he's going to make plays and that's what he did today."
With Rice's injury, the Chiefs will need the soon-to-be 35-year-old tight end to have more days like Sunday.
