Patrick Mahomes hailed Travis Kelce for stepping up after the Kansas City Chiefs suffered another major injury blow to their already-depleted offense.
Kelce’s below-par performances this season have come under scrutiny – with some fans blaming the distraction of being one half of the most famous couple in the world along with pop star girlfriend Taylor Swift – and he came into the Week 4 contest with the Los Angeles Chargers with just eight catches for 69 yards.
After being a peripheral figure across the first three games, the Chiefs had to utilise the 34-year-old on a regular basis against the Chargers after wide receiver Rashee Rice suffered a suspected torn ACL.
Rice collided with Mahomes as they tried to recover a fumble and was taken to the locker room on a cart with a towel over his face. He joins Hollywood Brown and Isiah Pacheco on the sidelines with all three potentially out for the season.
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Under-manned offense sparkles
Kelce, along with Xavier Worthy and veteran running back Kareem Hunt, filled the void as the Chiefs hit back to move to 4-0 with a 17-10 win.
History made.
The catch that gave @tkelce the franchise record for most receptions 🏹 pic.twitter.com/76s4Y1HakF
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) September 29, 2024
“The guys stepped up and filled in as good as they can the role that [Rice] has in our offense, which is a big one,” Mahomes said. “All we can do now is go back to the basics and try to get guys opportunities to succeed.
“With Rashee going out early, you’ve got to put Kelce back in that situation where he is getting high-volume catches. Then just with the Chargers taking away some of the outside stuff and leaving the middle of the field open and we were able to get Trav in some of those zone coverages.
“The whole Kelce thing in general hasn’t been a worry to me. I know whenever we need him he’s going to make plays, and that’s what he did today.”
Hunt impresses on return
Kelce had seven catches for 89 yards to become the Chiefs player with the most receptions in franchise history while Hunt, in his first Chiefs game for six years after being cut, rushed for 69 yards.
“He’s always been a guy that runs tough,” Mahomes added. “He’s hard to tackle and you could see that and he’s going to make sure he finishes every single run and falls forward.
“For someone to come into an offense – I know it’s an offense he’d been in, but an offense he hadn’t played in years – and to be able to run the football hard, get well earned yards, catch the ball out of the backfield, it was good to see.
“And I’m just glad [general manager Brett] Veach built a great running back room that we can get guys to step up and make plays while Isiah’s not here.”
