Travis Kelce will be Chiefs’ prominent pass catcher against Raiders
After Sammy Watkins had career highs in yards and touchdowns last week, you may see him take a back seat in Week 2, but for good reasons.
Coming off the best game of Sammy Watkins’ career, it is easy to expect Watkins to have a similar performance this Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. The wide receiver could become the primary focus for the Raiders defense against the Kansas City Chiefs, especially with fellow wide receiver Tyreek Hill out. However, don’t be surprised if Watkins ends up having a quiet game, statistically, and All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce ends up having a monster performance on Sunday in Oakland.
Even though Hill is out for Sunday’s game, there are plenty of speedsters to account for in Mecole Hardman, Demarcus Robinson and De’Anthony Thomas, who is returning from a one-game suspension. But, based on past evidence, it will be Kelce who will shine and help the Chiefs offensively this week.
Kelce went off for 168 yards and two touchdown grabs off 12 catches in last year’s meeting in Oakland. In the last three meetings between the two teams, Kelce has 304 receiving yards, playing a big hand in Kansas City’s wins over Oakland each time.
Kelce got off to a quick start last week with three catches for 88 yards in the first half last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. However, he did not record a catch in the second half.
While it is well-known that Patrick Mahomes has plenty of options, don’t be surprised if he targets Kelce the most. Aside from Kelce consistently doing well against the Raiders, Mahomes is coming off a game where he suffered an ankle sprain. Oakland’s aggressive defense, which came away with three sacks against Joe Flacco on Monday night, will look to try to slow down Mahomes and may use his ankle injury to its advantage.
Come Sunday, depending on the severity of Mahomes’ ankle, the Chiefs quarterback may look more for short, quick passes, and fewer deep shots downfield. In doing so, that may lead to a lot of quick-pass attempts to Kelce against the Raiders.
Although this could mean less activity from Watkins on the stats sheet, Watkins will still serve his purpose, posing as a decoy and drawing multiple defensive backs to allow Kelce and the rest of the pass catchers to come through with receptions.
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Similar to how he played last year at Oakland, don’t be surprised if Kelce has a similar game at the same stadium.