‘Hard to Stop’ Travis Kelce Leads KC Chiefs Again to Beat Father Time

In its exciting Monday night football victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kansas City Chiefs received valuable contributions from several players on offense. No one person stood out from the rest as a host of veterans joined the bandwagon.

Nose DeAndre Hopkins And running back Kareem Hunt Having already received due recognition, it’s important to highlight what tight end Travis Kelce did in Week 9.

With 71 offensive snaps, Kelce was on the field more than in any game in almost a calendar year. In doing so, he set season highs in targets (16), receptions (14) and yards (100) in a passing game. The former was the second-highest total of his career (twice 17), with the reception total matched only by his Divisional Round playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in early 2023.

In just about everything imaginable, Kelce turned back the clock and delivered not only a vintage performance, but one of the most impressive performances of his Chiefs career. After the game, quarterback Patrick Mahomes talked about how the future Hall of Fame pass catcher is making the most of his opportunities on Monday.

“I didn’t realize he had that many catches,” Mahomes said. “I mean, he just does a great job of finding space. I think having DeAndre around takes the pressure off him and all eyes aren’t on him all the time. Then I know it was out of bounds, but then hitting Xavier (Worthy) deep down the field and then getting in close to J-Wat (Justin Watson), it spreads the defense and you let guys like that run. under. I’m pretty sure he had a 16 reception game. It could have been a playoff game though. But yeah, whenever he starts, it’s hard to stop him.”

Per Benjamin Solak from ESPNKelce was the first player age 35 or older to make 14 or more catches in a game. Not just for tight ends: any. It marks a continued statistical resurgence for a man who started the season slowly, passing for less than 100 yards in his first three games. Including Week 4 when wide receiver Rushey Rice went down with a season-ending knee injuryKelsey has 44 receptions on 52 targets for 366 yards. Extrapolating from a 17-game regular season results in a staggering 177 targets, 150 catches and 1,244 yards.

What Kelce is doing a month before her 35th birthday, in the middle of her 12th NFL season with 189 games under her belt, is eating bananas. There is no other way to cut it. Considering he’s lost a step (or two) athletically, that makes him even more impressive. It’s completely unfair to expect that to continue – much of the Chiefs’ offense is that they’re just trying to make do with what they have – but the last few weeks have served as something of a cathartic for the debate surrounding one sport. – time of the great.

How Joshua Briscoe from Kansas City Chiefs on SI wrote last week, reports of Kelsey’s passing have been greatly exaggerated.

Read more: Patrick Mahomes explains the severity of his ankle injury, Andy Reid describes the ‘weakest ankles in America’