The Unlikely Heroes Of The Resilient Kansas City Chiefs
Travis Kelce
Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports
Not unlike Davis, Kelce may also be out of place on this list. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that he’s an NFL star in the making. He’s got God-given ability that most other NFL tight ends simply don’t have. His second quarter touchdown reception would’ve been a 10-yard gain for most of his peers at the position. Kelce has another gear that you don’t often see in this league from players his size. He took a simple, two-yard drag route up the field and into the end zone when two defenders couldn’t keep him from getting to the corner.
Kelce’s day was modest by most other standards. Sans the touchdown catch, he had just two other grabs for 16 yards. He’s not supposed to have a significant impact on this offense as the No. 2 tight end on the depth chart. Though, his clean bill of health does expand head coach Andy Reid’s playbook.
Last week, Kansas City enjoyed most of its success through the air with 12 personnel (1 runningback and 2 tight ends). The Chiefs lined up that way quite a bit in the game with Miami and had similar success. His unique skill set makes this possible, but on paper, he’s still “technically” the fourth option in the passing game. The good news for Reid is that Kelce’s outperforming all of the players you’d expect to be bigger pieces of the passing game puzzle (Bowe, Avery, and Fasano).
Joe McKnight
Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports
Joe McKnight was the unlikeliest of all of Kansas City’s heroes on Sunday. Prior to the game, McKnight had NEVER scored an offensive touchdown in the National Football League. I’ll repeat in case you misunderstood that last sentence: In 129 career touches over three seasons offensively, Joe McKnight had never scored a touchdown. He caught 6 passes for 64 yards and two scores on Sunday afternoon.
McKnight wasn’t supposed to survive Kansas City’s final round of roster cuts in August. Everyone in the Kingdom’s blogosphere was surprised to see that he’d actually made the team. Even after making the 53-man roster, I thought he’d be on the bubble once Bowe returned from his Week 1 suspension. It appeared that the Chiefs had all the help they needed at runningback between Jamaal Charles, Knile Davis, Cyrus Gray, and Anthony Sherman. No one thought the team would carry five at the position, but Sunday proved he has a place on the squad. We may be hearing more from him soon if Andy Reid agrees.
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