NFL Network analyst breaks down how Chiefs’ Travis Kelce duped Jaguars on TD catch
That’s 47 and counting.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw a third-quarter touchdown pass to tight end Travis Kelce in the Chiefs’ 17-9 win Sunday at Jacksonville. Mahomes has thrown 196 career touchdown passes, and 47 have gone to Kelce.
NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger broke down how Kelce got so wide open on the 9-yard touchdown reception. Kelce used a bit of deception and duped the Jaguars into thinking he simply was setting up for a first-down catch on the third-and-3 play.
“Kelce is gonna do what he does, little short motion,” Baldinger said in a video he shared on X (née Twitter). “He’s just looking at the defense, looking at Tre Herndon, their slot defender, right? And when you see this, it’s a third-down play, it’s third and 3, and Kelce slow-plays it to run this route for the third-down conversion. There it is: he’s got the first down and Mahomes is looking right at him, except they’re not trying to get the third-down conversion. They’re trying to get a touchdown.
“So when you watch this, Kelce turns around, Mahomes is like, OK, now you get the defense just flat-footed and looking right at Mahomes. And then Kelce just does this. I know this is by design. They do this, like get the defense to freeze and then just slide right behind them. And Kelce is back in the end zone. Punted that ball just right out of EverBank Stadium. That ball just kept going and going and going. That’s designed right there.”
Here is the video breakdown:
