Travis Kelce looks to become a bigger target this week

Travis Kelce became a regular in 2014 and has become one of football premier’s tight ends. But from a statistical standpoint, he never had a game as quiet as the previous one.

That figures to change Monday when the Chiefs meet Washington at Arrowhead Stadium.

In last weekend’s victory at the Los Angeles Chargers, Kelce caught one pass for 1 yard. It was his only target.

He’s had two other games in which he had one reception, season finales in 2015 and 2016. In both cases, he was targeted twice.

Against the Chargers, Kelce played all 53 offensive snaps.

There’s been speculation that Kelce was paying a price for penalties in each of the first two games. In the opener at New England, Kelce was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct when he shoved the football in the groin of a Patriots player. The NFL fined him $12,154 for the play.

The next week, Kelce was penalized for taunting the Eagles sideline after Kareem Hunt’s 53-yard run, forcing the Chiefs to kick off from the 20. Kelce wasn’t fined for the infraction but he got an earful from coach Andy Reid on the sideline.

But Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith said Kelce’s afternoon of blocking and not pass receiving in Los Angeles wasn’t planned.

“It was not something I would have foreseen at all,” Smith said. “It just kind of went that way the way they were playing him. A lot of missed opportunities as well.

“He is a guy that gets a lot of focus from the defense. That was part of it, and there were some opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of.”

Kelce’s reception against the Chargers was the only one by a tight end in the game. Demetrius Harris and Ross Travis appeared in the game but weren’t thrown to.

In the first two games, the Chiefs had found ways to get the ball in Kelce’s grasp, including lining up in a wildcat and taking a direct snap. Against the Eagles, Kelce came up with eight receptions for 103 yards — the ninth 100-yard game of his career — and a touchdown on a shovel pass when he leaped over a defender and crashed into the end zone.

The Smith-led offense has thrived with the emergence of the rookie Hunt, who has amassed 401 rushing yards and six total touchdowns in his first three games, speedster wide receiver Tyreek Hill, and Kelce. All are game-breakers.

Washington got the job done in its previous game, a 27-10 triumph over Oakland last week, holding quarterback Derek Carr to 118 passing yards and the Raiders’ rushing game to 32 yards. Oakland picked up seven first downs, punted seven times and held the ball for fewer than 22 minutes.

The Chiefs will be facing another strong pass-rushing team, and Smith was sacked five times last week.

“We’ve seen some pretty aggressive defensive lines and linebackers, but you watch (Washington) on tape and they’re fast, they play hard and they don’t give you much time.”

All the more reason to involve Kelce in a bigger way.

This story was originally published October 1, 2017 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Travis Kelce looks to become a bigger target this week."