As Travis Kelce comes under increased scrutiny for his performance this season, the Warriors' quarterback is defending him.
After the Chiefs improved to 3-0 with a win on the road against the Falcons on Sunday night, Patrick Mahomes explained why calls to Kelce have been few and far between in the Chiefs' first three games.
“The respect that the team has for Travis is unbelievable, and rightly so,” Mahomes told reporters. “We call a lot of plays for Travis, but it's like he has two or three guys huddled around him. He gets it. The great thing about him is he wants to impact the game, but ultimately he wants to win.”
“Whenever he's out there, whenever he's open, we're going to do our best to keep feeding him the ball. We want Russie to be there.” [Rice] The more you play, the more you can run the football, the more you can get. [Xavier] “I think having Worthy involved gives Travis more room to maneuver. Everybody's making a big deal about trying to take him out, but it opens up the room for other guys.”
The 34-year-old Kelce had four catches for 30 yards in Kansas City's 22-17 win at Atlanta, but the nine-time Pro Bowl selection has just eight catches for 69 yards and zero touchdowns this season.
On last week's episode of “New Heights,” the podcast he co-hosts with his brother Jason, Travis said he was “really pissed off and almost lost my cool” when he didn't play well in games, but he said he wasn't frustrated by his unproductive play over the first two weeks.
But on Sunday night, Kelce had another quiet fourth quarter and looked miserable on the sideline.
Rice dominated the Falcons with 12 catches on 14 targets for 110 yards and one touchdown. Kelce's five targets were second-most on the team.
Undrafted rookie running back Carson Steele filled in for the injured Isaiah Pacheco and had 72 yards on 17 carries.
Mahomes completed 26 of 39 attempts for 217 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
The Chiefs will be on the road again in Week 4 to take on the rival Chargers, a team where Kelce has had some big moments on multiple occasions.
Kelce has 100 catches for 1,223 yards and eight touchdowns in 18 games against the Chargers.
His most productive game of the 2023 regular season came in Week 7 against Los Angeles, when he recorded 12 catches for 179 yards and a touchdown.
