The Kansas City Chiefs kept their season rolling nicely as they head into their bye week, sitting at 5-0 on the year after a 26-13 win over the New Orleans Saints, and Travis Kelce had a nice parting gift for fans.
While much has been made of the Chiefs' offense being up and down this season, with Patrick Mahomes and Kelce still not firing on all cylinders, we got a glimpse of the "old Kelce" against the Saints...but not in the way you might think.
Facing a third-and-22 in the second quarter on the Saints' 43-yard line, Mahomes hit Kelce for a five-yard completion, but the tight end then decided to morph into a quarterback and throw a lateral pass to Samaje Perine, who then dashed upfield for another 15 yards.
For head coach Andy Reid, he's fine with Kelce improvising on the field, as long as it works.
“Yeah, we do it every day and he does a great job with the decision to do that or not do it,” Reid said. “If he doesn't do well with it, I tell him don't come back to the bench.”
Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs and Tyrann Mathieu of the New Orleans Saints
© Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
While Kelce had a very slow start to the season by his lofty standards, not having more than 34 yards and four receptions in a game in the first three games, he's bounced back with authority during the last two weeks.
Travis has hauled in seven and nine receptions for 89 and 70 yards, respectively, to signal that he might just be getting back to his Pro Bowl form.
Part of that could be Rashee Rice's injury, so Kelce has to be force-fed the ball, and in the last fortnight, it appears to have worked rather well.
But for all the good that Kelce does with the ball in his hand as a receiver, defenses got a subtle reminder that if he is in space, he isn't afraid to offload the football.
And that's another element to this Chiefs offense that you simply have to account for.
