Postseason in Kansas City means one thing: Travis Kelce Time.
The future Hall of Fame tight end once again proved his postseason production is seemingly as easy as flipping a switch when the tournament starts.
Kelce spent the 2024 season looking like a 35-year-old tight end who had Father Time nipping at his heels. He generated 97 catchers of 823 yards -- fewest in a decade -- with three touchdowns. Then the postseason hit and Kelce was dipped back into cool waters, rejuvenated.
In Saturday's Divisional Round win over Houston, Kelce led the Chiefs with 117 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions. The performance was his ninth postseason game of 100-plus receiving yards, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Jerry Rice for most in NFL History.
Asked about the energy Kelce brings to the Chiefs offense every postseason, coach Andy Reid said it's much more than that.
"It's that positive mindset that you can do anything," Reid said Monday, via the team transcript. "I think he does a great job with that and being able to show it to the guys that -- listen, (when) we come together the right way, anything's possible. That's the thing I appreciate (about) him the most. I also appreciate that, at his age, he goes out there every day and practices hard, and that just -- and if you try to take him out, he gets mad at you. I think that's -- I'd say that's a special thing for an older player."
Already holding the record for most receptions in postseason history (172), Saturday marked Kelce's sixth career playoff game with 100-plus receiving yards and 1-plus touchdown -- only Rice (7) has more. The TE became the second player in NFL history to have 2,000-plus yards in their playoff career. His 2,020 career playoff receiving yards trail only Rice's 2,245. Kelce's 20 playoff receiving TDs sit two behind Rice in the record books.
Reid noted that the inability of playoff defenses to key solely on Kelce helps open the tight end up.
"I'm happy for him with the seven catches and all that, but I think more of it is just we have a variety of guys around him," Reid said. "I mean, he's -- the opportunities that he's had he's done well with, and I don't think it's his play that has been reduced. When everybody asks about age -- by age or physical ability or anything, I just think that you have a variety of guys that we've been able to use around him and when we didn't, teams were ganging up on him. It's a good problem now because guys are healthy, and we have choices out there, and they can't really just focus on him."
On Sunday, you can bet your bottom dollar that the Buffalo Bills will focus on Kelce in the AFC Championship Game. In their Week 11 bout -- a 30-21 Bills win -- Buffalo held the TE to two catches on four targets for 8 yards. However, in three playoff games against the Bills, Kelce has averaged 8.7 catches and 96.3 yards per game with five total touchdown catches.
