Three franchise greats carry KC Chiefs forward vs. Chargers
Travis Kelce
For a long time I have maintained that Tony Gonzalez was still the greatest Chiefs tight end of all time, but that Travis Kelce had a chance to pass him if he kept producing long enough. He have officially reached “long enough” for me. Kelce may not just be the greatest Chiefs tight end of all time, he may just be the greatest NFL tight end of all time. He was absolutely dominant again on Sunday night as he went for 115 yards and three touchdowns. Somehow it seems like Kelce isn’t slowing down with age, he’s somehow getting better.
Sunday night’s game was his 33rd career game with over 100 yards receiving, which is a record for NFL tight ends. He already holds the record for most 1000 yard seasons by a tight end with six and he’s well on his way to topping that number for a jaw dropping 7th consecutive year. No other tight end in NFL history has even had 5 total 1000 yard seasons, let alone 7 in a row. Kelce is on pace for 117 receptions, 1,450 yards, and 18 touchdowns. Yes, 18 touchdowns. That’s insane for any tight end, let alone one that is 33 years old and has been in the league for a decade.
You can’t put his production all on Mahomes either. First off, Kelce was putting up huge numbers with Alex Smith before Mahomes was around. More importantly, you can see Kelce’s dominance on the field. On Kelce’s 2nd touchdown he slipped a tackle and broke away down the sideline in a way that a 33 year old man that ways 250 pounds just shouldn’t be able to do. Then on his 3rd touchdown (the game winner with 30 seconds to go) he dusted All World safety Derwin James at the line of scrimmage so bad that James had no chance to make a play on him.
Tony Gonzalez may have steadily produced for longer and Rob Gronkowski may have had flashes of more physical dominance, but Kelce is proving that he’s the ultimate combination of the two. He has freakish upside and explosiveness and is also in the midst of the most amazingly consistent seven year span that no other tight end has ever come close to. The Chargers had a front row seat to that greatness on Sunday night.
It would be easy to stop there, but there is one more GOAT on this roster that doesn’t get talked about in the same way that Mahomes and Kelce do and he plays on the opposite side of the ball.