KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Even though he led the\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0in receptions again by a wide margin, it wasn’t difficult to see the emphasis of the passing game shift away from tight end\u00a0Travis Kelce. Between receiver\u00a0Rashee Rice’s hot start, rookie receiver\u00a0Xavier Worthy’s growth and tight end\u00a0Noah Gray’s development, the future is on its way.<\/p>\n
But it’s not here quite yet. The Chiefs’ need might not be as great as it once was for a big playoff game or two from Kelce, as he has delivered many times in the past, but he still appears capable of providing it.<\/p>\n
“I’m happy with my role right now,” said Kelce, who sat out the Chiefs’ final regular-season game against the\u00a0Denver Broncos\u00a0when the Chiefs rested several key players for a playoff run. “I’m out here helping this team win football games. We got a lot of good tight ends. We got a lot of wide receivers that are getting open, that are doing great things with the football.\u00a0Pat [Mahomes]\u00a0is playing at his best going into the playoffs, so it’s a year a little bit different than others, but it’s still a blast coming in every single day.”<\/p>\n
It was a different type of season for Kelce, who turned 35 in October. He started slowly, with just eight catches in the first three games. Despite his 97 receptions, Kelce had the lowest yardage (823) and touchdown totals (three) of his career.<\/p>\n
Kelce’s season wasn’t without its highlights. He had seven games with at least seven catches, highlighted by a 14-reception, 100-yard game against the\u00a0Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He held the passing game together for a stretch when Rice and\u00a0Hollywood Brown\u00a0were out with injuries.<\/p>\n
“He makes huge plays for us,” said Joe Bleymaier, the Chiefs’ passing game coordinator. “He comes up in the biggest moments big. He does a lot of the unseen, unwritten stuff that maybe goes without notice to a lot of the outside world that he makes plays happen for everybody else. He teaches the young guys, he brings our culture and just how we play and how we operate along for all the new guys that are new in the building.<\/p>\n
“I would say a typical Trav season, even if the stats might indicate a little bit less so.”<\/p>\n
The Chiefs finished 15-2, one of the losses coming in a 38-0 blowout against the Broncos on Sunday when several key players did not play because the Chiefs had already clinched the AFC’s top playoff seed.<\/p>\n
Their record wasn’t unexpected, not with the Chiefs being the two-time defending Super Bowl champions. But to Kelce, it was gratifying, nonetheless.<\/p>\n
“I could look back on a lot of the teams that we had success on and those were the most fun teams to be on,” Kelce said. “You could feel it in the building. And right now, it is such a blast coming in and going to work with the guys that we have. It is more unique and more different than any year I’ve ever been a part of because of the way we’ve won and how we’ve had to keep focusing on getting better, knowing we were coming away with wins.<\/p>\n
“It’s just the chemistry is at an all-time high right now, and I’m excited that we’ve found a way to get the No. 1 seed and we’re going into the playoffs playing our best football.”<\/p>\n