Whether it’s on the field or off the field, Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes have been an inseparable duo. Having led the Kansas City Chiefs to three Super Bowl titles together, they haven’t enjoyed the best start this season. Although Mahomes has picked off from where he left last season, Travis Kelce seems to be struggling to find his feet this year.

While the Chiefs have continued to maintain their perfect start to the season, the Kelce and Mahomes combination has turned out to be a major talking point. Offering insights on the same, ex-NFLer Marcus Spears stated, “It feels like Kansas City’s offense is out of whack. Mahomes and Kelce are out of sync, and Travis is not creating a lot of separation and working the zone. You expect it to get better throughout the season. It doesn’t look as dominant as we’ve grown accustomed to.”

Well, Spears may be right, as Kelce has only managed to put up eight catches for 69 yards, which is nowhere near the numbers the Chiefs would have hoped for. Even their offense isn’t great either, as the Chiefs find themselves in 14th among other NFL franchises. Their passing and receiving grades are also suffering with a 16th rank in passing and 18th in receiving.

Although you can blame the Chiefs’ offense for not rushing teams out of the field, Kelce and Mahomes duo aren’t helping a lot. This is the first season under their seven-year partnership where Kelce had such abysmal numbers. He is yet to cross 46 yards in a single game, and it’s not something Kelce would be proud of.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs TE is also coming out of a record-breaking season where he strung up 984 receiving yards, a little less than his 1,000 receiving yards from 2016 to 2022. But with such a start to the season, it seems like Kelce wouldn’t be anywhere near those numbers. However, his teammates and head coach have continued to support the TE in this tough run.

Travis Kelce finds solace in Kansas City teammates

While Travis Kelce has faced criticism for his lack of output this season, Mahomes was the first one to talk in his defense. After recording their third straight win against the Falcons last week, Mahomes stated, “Yeah, it’s crazy because teams still show the respect factor they have for Travis. It’s just unreal. It’s well-deserved, but we’re calling a lot of plays for Travis, and it’s like two or three people are going to him. So, I mean, he understands.”

Well, Kelce also acknowledged that his team winning is of utmost priority: “It has everything to do with execution, just making sure we’re doing whatever we can to win these football games, man. That’s always going to be the goal.” Even head coach Andy Reid spoke in defense of his Pro Bowler TE, “I know people are saying that he is old or whatever, has distractions and all this, but the defenses don’t think that.”

Amid Kelce’s struggles, WR Rashee Rice has benefitted the most, as Mahomes conveyed, “Teams have to adjust coverage on Rice. If they don’t, Rashee is going to have 2,000 yards.” While we don’t know whether Rashee will get to 2,000 yards, he is currently leading the NFL in catches with 24. And, sitting in second position with 288 receiving yards after three games.

But can Kelce and Mahomes combine like they used to before this season? Or are the Chiefs going with a different approach this year that will not benefit the 34-year-old in Kansas City? We don’t know yet, but for now, we can hope this duo finds their mojo back before it’s too late.