The doubts about Travis Kelce existed long before the start of the third week.
Through the first two games of the year, Travis Kelce’s stats looked laughably sparse. After playing 90 percent of the snaps against the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals, Kelce had just 7 total targets. The official line of 4 catches for 39 yards looked more like what he would accomplish in an average half than an eighth of a season.
In other words, even though Kelce is ubiquitous in sports and entertainment these days, he is nowhere to be found.
Over the last nine years, Kelce has averaged 8.4 passes and 6.0 catches per game. An average season during that time is 93 catches for 1,163 yards and 8 touchdowns. Again, that is the Average Statistics for a tight end for the last nine seasons. Essentially, it was a decade of genius leading into this year, with Kelce still saying all the right things about feeling good, being hungry and loving football.
Oh yes, Kelce is also aiming for a third win in a row.
If you didn’t know better, after just two underperforming games, you might think Kelce entered the season unprepared, lacking motivation, and just jumping through hoops to fulfill his contractual obligations. At least, that’s what some people are criticizing.
Kelce himself would be the first to admit that he’s lost something athletically at this stage of his career. He also makes up for it with intelligence, experience and instincts acquired over a decade of making life difficult for defenders. The lack of productivity is admittedly frustrating and confusing – there’s no doubt about that – and yet it’s irresponsible and unnecessary to so quickly make lame claims that someone is “done” or “cooked” or “washed.”
Despite the lack of productivity, the Chiefs’ overall offense looks a little boring at this point. Patrick Mahomes hasn’t been “himself” this year either, with easy interceptions and clearly missed throws on tape alongside the typical magic we get to see on a weekly basis. The Chiefs aren’t even scoring the points they should due to red zone concerns. They’re also missing their WR1 in Hollywood Brown and their RB1 in Isiah Pacheco.
But it’s also true that Kelce has been free several times each game without being seen (or passed) to by Mahomes. It’s not like Kelce can throw the ball to himself, and some of the opportunities he’s gotten have only been a few yards each.
Kelce showed some signs of life early in the second half with a couple of key catches on the first drive of the half. Yet he finished the night with just 4 catches for 30 yards, which will surely raise more questions. Kelce can handle them, and he’ll probably even understand them. But at the very least, a decade of brilliance should have given him more of a boost in confidence than just three games in an offensively stifled season.
