Chiefs Confront New Reality Surrounding Mahomes–Kelce Era

That connection has produced 897 completions, 10,623 yards and 77 touchdowns, including postseason. The Mahomes-Kelce postseason numbers, all NFL records for a quarterback-target combination, are mesmerizing: 149 completions, 1,740 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Remember, those postseason NFL records are only since 2018, the quarterback’s first year as a starter. Kelce entered the league in 2013, when Andy Reid became Chiefs head coach.

Looking back at what may have been the end

“Lost our quarterback, man,” Kelce said on Wednesday’s edition of New Heights. “Patty Mahomes, our guy, our brother, our fearless leader, our face of the franchise, to an ACL. And it's never easy seeing your guys go down. We had a bunch of guys get hurt this past game, and we fought, man. We fought.

“And for the season to be going like it did up to that point, on our last quest to try and keep our playoff hopes alive there in the fourth quarter, on a freakish play to see 15 go down like that, man … It wasn't real for a guy that puts in that much and puts his body on the line week-in, week-out.”

If Sunday was their last game together, what a ride. And if so, the last of Kelce’s 897 receptions from Mahomes came four snaps before the quarterback’s season ended.

On first-and-10 from the Chiefs’ 32-yard line, with 3:34 left in the game, Mahomes was driving the Chiefs for at least a game-tying field goal to potentially force overtime.

It was a unique formation, pistol in concept, with Kelce and Noah Gray aligned next to the quarterback in a four-man backfield. Mahomes started with a fake handoff out of the shotgun to Kareem Hunt, then hit Kelce sitting in the zone. The big tight end turned and got the needed yards after the catch to move the sticks.

Regardless of what Kelce decides...

Whether Kelce retires, re-signs with the Chiefs either before or after his current contract expires in March, or signs with another team, he made one thing crystal clear. He’s going to lead his teammates to finish the last three games on a positive note – starting at Tennessee Sunday (12 p.m. CT, CBS/KCTV, Channel 5, 96.5 The Fan).

“The integrity of who you are as a professional,” he said, “as a player -- you got to love this sh--, man. And Chiefs Kingdom, we're going to give you everything we got. There's no question about that. There's only one way I do things. There's only one way Coach Reid does things.

“And we're going to go out there and play some football, we're going to do it the right way and keep trying to get these things fixed.”

Kelce stands only 3 yards from reaching 800 on the year and joining Jerry Rice as one of only two NFL players with at least 800 receiving yards in 12 consecutive seasons.

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