Travis Kelce is washed up. Hey, we aren’t suggesting this, but that’s how many NFL fans have started perceiving him. The TE hasn’t been a huge contributor to the Chiefs’ offense this season. For instance, he scored just two touchdowns till Week 14 and so, many viewers have been feeling like his off-field successes have been carrying him away. Plus, considering he is 35, fans had been expecting a drop in production numbers. But how correct is this perception?

Well, the best person to comment on this would be Patrick Mahomes, who could give fans a deeper perspective than what one can see during games. After all, Kelce was the one to put the Kansas City Chiefs into a winning position on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. That catch to secure the first down in the last quarter wasn’t supposed to happen that way. But they improvised.

Well, Chiefs kicker Matthew Wright kicked a field goal as time was ticking in the fourth quarter. He knocked it off the left upright and gave his team a 17-19 victory. But this came after the classic Mahomes-Kelce connection. The QB scrambled and escaped from pressure long enough to find Kelce for the first down. It was almost like the two had a telepathic connection!

Mahomes took the podium after the game and spoke the truth about Kelce when the media asked him about Kelce’s performance. He became the fastest tight end in NFL history to reach the 12,000-yard receiving mark. He did so in 172 games. Speaking about this, Mahomes stated:

“He means the world to me, man. I mean, without getting emotional, he is a guy that has really kinda made me who I am in my career and a true leader on the football field. Everybody says security blanket but someone that I can just go to any moment and he is going to make a big play happen,” shared the QB.

“As he has gone throughout his career, he has never dropped of as far as his work ethic and the way he leads. And I think it is super important when you have a guy that’s going to have a golden jacket. He is the hardest working dude on the team.”

However, this brought in a follow-up question. What did the QB mean when he said Travis Kelce made him who he is?

Well, answering this query, Patrick Mahomes shared, “As a player, obviously, he is someone that plays in the same wavelength that I do. And it’s hard to do that, it takes guys time. It seems like from the first day, I’ve kind of been on that same page with Trav and then seeing him work every day, I mean, everybody sees like the personality and on the TV and stuff like that. But you don’t see that every day work ethic that he has.”

“He is the guy that gets mad when they take him out at practice reps. I mean, that’s just the type of work ethic he has. And even for me, to come into the league and have a superstar player and see him work like that, it kind of showed me that I’m going to have to put that work ethic in if I want to get to that level,” Mahomes said, as reported by KSHB 41 on YouTube.

All said and done, the team hasn’t been able to address their offensive issues for a while now. But whatever they do, they tend to make it out with a win, even if they make mistakes.

Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce’s blunder seals the game!

Mahomes might have been caught off guard on that first down pass he threw to Kelce on third-and-seven play with 2 minutes remaining in the quarter. Kelce wasn’t supposed to run that route. And that is why he thinks he is on the same page with his tight end.

Charles Goldman of A-to-Z Sports revealed what Mahomes thought of Kelce’s improvisation in his tweet after the game. “#Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes says TE Travis Kelce was supposed to run a corner route on the first down reception in the fourth quarter. 😂.”

Watching the play unfold surprised even coach Andy Reid. “That play that Pat and Kelce made at the end there was something. That’s not quite the way it was drawn up,” he admitted.

This win enabled the Chiefs to clinch the AFC West, sending them to Huntington Bank Stadium to play Jameis Winston and his Browns.

“It’s our first goal every single year—to win the AFC West,” Mahomes explained. “This is a great division with a lot of rivalries where everybody’s playing each other tough. I mean, three teams are going to probably make the playoffs, so it speaks to the division that we play in. To be able to win this division and gain another game in the playoff picture, it was an important game for us against a really good football team. We found a way to get a win, but now we got to keep building if we want to get to our ultimate goal.”

The Chiefs are now sitting at 12-1 but Reid knows there are more games left. So that’s where they will focus now.