KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Joe Bleymaier has a unique chair from which to gauge the transformation Travis Kelce has made since last season.
Kansas City’s passing game coordinator, Bleymaier doesn’t work directly with the future Hall of Famer. But in the coach’s macro view of the Chiefs’ offense, he sees clearly that Kelce is under the microscope of his teammates. And those teammates push themselves because Kelce pushes himself.
“He finds an ability to get better during the season,” Bleymaier said Thursday. “We’re here in October and sometimes guys, especially guys that know they’re going to play, know they’re going to have a lot of snaps, can go into each week of the season – especially October -- with sort of a self-preservation mode.
“Trav continues to push himself Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays and Fridays and that allows him to get better. I think that’s what has gotten him to this point, and he hasn’t slowed that down. So, even at his age and the years that he has, he’s continuing to get better week to week.”
This week when the Chiefs (3-3) host the Raiders (2-4) on Sunday (12 p.m. CT, CBS/KCTV, Channel 5, 96.5 The Fan), Kelce can achieve another significant career milestone: Touchdown reception No. 100, including playoffs.
He’d become the fourth tight end in NFL history to reach that plateau (Antonio Gates 118, Tony Gonzalez 115 and Rob Gronkowski 107). Kelce, who has 79 regular-season touchdowns, leads active NFL players at all positions with 20 postseason touchdowns.
Here are unique notes, trends and stats to help play-by-play announcers and color analysts prepare for the Week 7 contest. Most information courtesy of the National Football League.
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