Travis Kelce proves age is just a number with epic performance versus Texans

Travis Kelce had a vintage playoff performance against the Houston Texans and found himself climbing even higher on all-time leaderboards.

AFC Divisional Playoffs: Houston Texans v Kansas City Chiefs
AFC Divisional Playoffs: Houston Texans v Kansas City Chiefs | Jamie Squire/GettyImages

The Kansas City Chiefs are heading to the AFC Championship Game for the seventh consecutive season. After their first-round bye, Kansas City defeated the Houston Texans on Saturday by a score of 23-14. A major reason as to why the Chiefs earned the victory was because of all-world tight end Travis Kelce.

Kelce showed out with a vintage playoff performance. As usual, the star pass catcher elevated his game when the stakes were higher. It was a day in which Kelce led Kansas City in every receiving category. He finished with eight targets, seven receptions, 117 receiving yards, and 1 receiving touchdown. If you look at the rest of the Chiefs pass catchers, they combined for just 9 receptions and 60 receiving yards on 16 other targets.

A good chunk of Kelce's catches in this game boosted any momentum further into Kansas City's favor. His 49-yard catch-and-run over the middle of the field lit a major spark in the offense before a Kareem Hunt touchdown. Elsewhere, Travis moved the chains with key third-down grabs. And on his touchdown catch, Kelce secured it in between defenders for a moment that felt like the ultimate dagger.

2024 was more of a down season for Kelce, statistically speaking, when comparing it to his years with Patrick Mahomes. But if this game showed anything about the tight end in his older years, the playoffs are where he turns it up a notch. It is truly uncanny how much he meets the moment that is the NFL playoffs.

Mahomes touched on Kelce continually stepping up in the playoffs. "Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games. He doesn't let the moment get bigger than it is," Mahomes said. "He executes like he does in the regular season, but with a higher intensity."

Kelce joined Jerry Rice after Saturday's game as one of only two players with 2,000+ receiving yards and 20+ receiving touchdowns in a player's postseason career. Kelce has also now topped 100 receiving yards in a playoff game nine times in his career. That is the most in NFL history. What's more, Kelce has also extended his NFL record for consecutive playoff games with 70+ receiving yards, moving it to 14 games.

Travis Kelce sits at or near the top of many playoff leaderboards. But even close to the end of his NFL career, he makes days like this look normal.

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