Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has been one of the few bright spots in what’s shaping up to be the club’s worst season in the otherwise illustrious Andy Reid era.

After exceeding the 1,000-yard mark seven straight years from 2016 to 2022, Kelce finished below the plateau in consecutive seasons (984 in 2023, 823 in 2024). This season, he’s barely on pace to return to the 1K mark, with 719 receiving yards through 12 games.

Despite Travis Kelce’s strong bounce-back season, however, the Chiefs are a middling team with a 6-6 record after their Thanksgiving Game loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Not only do they realistically need to win out to make the playoffs, but KC will need a lot of help with the 8-4 Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Chargers occupying the three wild card spots.

Even though Arizona Cardinals star Trey McBride is the only tight end with more receiving yards (879) than Kelce, Kansas City’s All-Pro weapon sits third in Pro Bowl voting at the position, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

Colts rookie Tyler Warren is ahead of Kelce despite having fewer catches, receiving yards and touchdowns:

The Pro Bowl is also essentially a popularity contest, and Travis Kelce is only engaged to the world’s biggest music star in Taylor Swift. Indeed, it’s baffling that he’s only third among tight ends here.

Chiefs Need Vintage Travis Kelce For The Final Five Games

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in red shirtTravis Kelce (Denny Medley-Imagn Images)

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Recently, Travis Kelce attributed the Chiefs’ struggles this season to a lack of discipline and urgency. Indeed, we’ve seen some uncharacteristic mistakes at the worst possible times by the team that’s played in seven straight AFC Championship Games and five of the last six Super Bowls.


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Kansas City’s rushing game, offensive line and defense aren’t playing up to their usual standards this season. If the Chiefs are to make the playoffs, they’ll need the big guns like Kelce, Rashee Rice, Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones to do the heavy lifting.

The cliche about needing “your best players to be your best players” certainly rings true for Kansas City heading into their crucial ‘Sunday Night Football’ clash with the red-hot Houston Texans.