Remember the start of the season when Travis Kelce just couldn’t get going? It took Kelce over 6 weeks to record his first 10 receptions in a game. And then the following week, he notched his first 100-yard game to finally get his season moving. However, Kelce’s struggles kept on going. He never managed to reach those figures again by the end of the regular season. There were questions every week about whether the Chiefs are slowly moving on from Kelce. Well, Andy Reid has an answer to your queries.

Hopping on the Kansas City Chiefs’ official YouTube channel. Reid pointed out one thing that has probably led to Kelce’s problems on the offense. “I think more of it is we have a variety of guys around him..The opportunities he has had, he’s done well with them. It’s his play that has been reduced..We got a variety of guys we can use around him. When we didn’t, teams were ganging up on him. So, it’s a good problem now. The guys are healthy we got choices out there.” Now, this isn’t the first time such a narrative has been used to explain Kelce’s struggles.

Going back to week 3, when Kelce only caught four passes for 30 yards. Patrick Mahomes gave a similar assessment to what Reid gave today, “It’s crazy because the respect factor teams have for Travis is unreal, and it’s well deserved. We’re calling a lot of plays for Travis, and it’s like two or three defenders are going to him. That’s the great thing about him.” He then went on to mention how having more involvement from Rashee Rice (now injured) and Xavier Worthy benefits the Chiefs as a whole, “I think that’s going to open Travis up more. People are emphasizing taking him away, and that’s getting other guys open.”

However, the Travis Kelce we were talking about until now was his regular-season version. What about “playoff Trav”, as Mahomes calls him? Well, the playoffs saw a completely different version of Kelce. His 11-yard TD early into the 4th quarter proved to be decisive for the Chiefs to win 23-14. Kelce went on to finish with 7 receptions for 117 yards with a TD. With playoff Trav in full flow, the Chiefs will get another boost in the form of their Super Bowl LVIII hero, Mecole Hardman.

Andy Reid teases the return of Mecole Hardman

Mecole Hardman burst onto the Chiefs roster when he scored that game-winning overtime TD against the Niners in last year’s Super Bowl. His TD meant the Chiefs won two consecutive Super Bowl titles and now have found themselves agonizingly close to a third. So, will their hero manage to return before the Chiefs do reach the Super Bowl? Well, Andy Reid gave an update on his potential return, “We’ll see how that goes here. I haven’t made any decisions on that yet, but he’s worked hard to try and get himself back. We’ll see how that all works out.” See, here’s the full picture: Hardman had been on the injured reserve since his knee injury suffered in practice in week 14.

Following that knee injury, he needed a cleanup surgery before the Chiefs opened his 21-day practice window on New Year’s Eve. Talk about a possible New Year’s gift. Slowly, Hardman was found practicing while staying a limited participant for the last three days. However, it seems like he could enter the active roster before the Chiefs take on the Bills this weekend.

Before his injury, Hardman had already racked up 90 yards on 12 receptions. Besides that, he also has incredible numbers against the Bills. In his last 3 playoff appearances against them, Hardman has eight catches for 112 yards and two red zone scores. So, his return could probably mean a lot for the Chiefs’ chances of securing that first-ever three-peat.