The Kansas City Chiefs have potentially the greatest tight end of all time on their roster, but they have struggled in recent weeks to find ways to get him the ball.
Travis Kelce is one of the most exciting players in the league and has revolutionized the tight end position, forcing defenses to sell out in coverage on him to neutralize the threat he poses in the receiving game. He faces handsy defenders on a weekly basis, and gets some, but not all of the calls he thinks he should. In the past two weeks, in particular, Kelce has been made to look like a normal human instead of the tight-end-demigod he is in most games.
It is just one in a number of different factors in the Chiefs’ recent struggles on offense, and head coach Andy Reid told reporters on Tuesday that they’re working on a fix.
“When we single him up when he’s the one guy here and three guys on the other side,” Reid said. “They have a tendency to get their hands on him and grab him until they get called three times. So, that’s how it goes.”
Reid went on to say that defensive emphasis on stopping Kelce used to bother the tight end more than it does now. Reid sees it as his job as a coach to scheme him free to provide the safety net Patrick Mahomes needs to be successful.
“He’s been good,” He said of Kelce’s ability to work through the adversity. “When he was younger, he’d get very upset at it. So, he’s matured there and tries to find a way to get around it. So, it’s our responsibility to move him around and you’ve seen us do that a little bit. He’s very productive when that happens.”
Asked specifically about if he’d passed the word onto the NFL about the illegal contact Kelce has seen at times this season, Reid ended his press conference with a wisecrack worthy of the holiday season.
“If I want to buy my grandkids presents for Christmas, I can’t answer that question.”
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