How does Chiefs’ Travis Kelce continue to get so open? Here’s what his OC thinks
When Los Angeles Chargers coach Brandon Staley stepped up to the podium after Sunday’s 31-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the first nine questions he received were all on the same basic topic.
The Chargers knew they were facing Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and figured he’d be a big part of KC’s game plan. So how in the world, reporters asked Staley in all different fashions, did Kelce still manage 12 catches for 179 yards with a touchdown at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium?
“They’re a tough tandem,” Staley said of Kelce and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, “whether you play man or zone.”
The recent numbers for Kelce, after turning 34 this month, remain staggering.
He leads all NFL tight ends in receptions (48) and receiving yards (525), even after sitting out the season opener with a knee injury. In the last three weeks — against Minnesota, Denver and the LA Chargers — Kelce has averaged 10.3 catches and 123 receiving yards, adding a pair of touchdowns for good measure.
Zebra Technologies’ on-field tracking also shows Kelce is succeeding in a way all his own. He leads the league with 34 receptions on “open” targets, defined as having three-plus yards of separation. He had eight of those “open” catches in the Chargers game Sunday.
So why does Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy think that Kelce has continued his crazy level of production, even with defenses each week explicitly trying to stop him?
“What Kelce does is rare and special, just like Patrick,” Nagy said Thursday. “And you put two rare and special guys together, it’s fun.”
Nagy admits he doesn’t envy opposing defensive coordinators on this one. He understands why a seemingly simple task — “Stopping Kelce” — doesn’t have a straightforward solution.
Start with this: Kelce does a great job of finding vacancies in zone coverage. He reads defenses like a quarterback and has built up an uncanny connection with Mahomes, allowing them to succeed on scramble plays better than any other duo in today’s NFL.
Nagy said he sometimes laughs when re-watching film. There’s the first part of the play when Mahomes is reading progressions. Then a second part where he starts to scramble with eyes downfield.
But then an unexpected third chapter plays out, when Mahomes and Kelce find the same wavelength and link up on a pass that isn’t close to the original play intention.
“There’s that trust that those two have together,” Nagy said, “that gets better and better every week, every game.”
Playing man coverage isn’t necessarily a fix against Kelce, either. For one, the tight end can beat that too, as he did for his longest reception against the Chargers — a 53-yard catch in the second quarter.
And while sticking a team’s best cornerback on Kelce could seem like a viable option, Nagy said that’s rare these days because it creates other defensive headaches. For one, doing that requires a cornerback who might typically play on the left or right side to “travel” with Kelce, which likely would be outside the team’s usual scheme.
If that does happen, the Chiefs coaches have the potential to pick up “tells” on the defense to understand what they’re about to do before the snap. And if that takes place, the Chiefs can potentially counter the defense across from them with plays they believe will work against particular looks, giving them an overall advantage in the bigger-picture strategic game.
Even without a traveling defender ... going to man coverage can expose defenses to further issues against the Chiefs. One is Mahomes’ scrambling ability, which has a greater chance of success when defenders’ backs are turned in coverage.
The Chiefs are also beginning to develop more consistency with their other wideouts, as players like Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Rashee Rice noticeably stepped up when L.A. tried different looks Sunday.
“Now teams are seeing that (receiver growth), and they understand they’ve got to know where they’re at, too,” Nagy said. “And so that helps open Kelce up.”
This much is certain: Kelce remains an integral part of the Chiefs’ offensive plan each week.
While Nagy said he could come up with a percentage on how many of KC’s offensive plays each game have Kelce as the primary target, he admitted that it’s “a lot.”
“That hasn’t changed this year,” Nagy said. “It’s been forever that it’s ‘a lot.’”
Many of those plays still work, Nagy said, because of the rapport between the Chiefs’ quarterback and tight end.
Mahomes and Kelce not only know defenses. They also know each other.
“Kelce built to this. And Patrick built to this relationship with him,” Nagy said. “And now, they’re at a high level.”
