Travis Kelce’s Sunday was scary, but it’s unclear who should worry

On the whole, the Kansas City Chiefs had a pretty positive trip to Germany. Andy Reid’s choice to travel closer to game time paid off, as the reigning Super Bowl champions came out strong in the first half.

Things got a bit messier as the contest elapsed—it’s almost impossible to keep the Miami Dolphins’ offense quiet for 60 minutes—but KC held on to win 21-14. The club now heads into the bye week at 7-2, and everyone inside the locker room is probably feeling pretty positive.

There was one notably quiet performer on Sunday, though: Travis Kelce. While the tight end is usually at the heart of Kansas City’s success, he barely made an impact on the scoresheet.

That performance, especially in the context of a big win, was notable. It remains to be seen, however, whether the Chiefs or the rest of the NFL should be concerned.

Let’s break it down.

Travis Kelce Had a Slow Sunday

Whether you’re an avid fantasy football player or simply watch the Chiefs on a regular basis, you’ll know that Kelce is Patrick Mahomes’ main target. When the chips are down, No. 87 is probably going to touch the ball.

During Sunday’s game in Frankfurt, Germany, though, that wasn’t the case.

While the contest was something of a rollercoaster—KC jumped out to a 21-0 lead before Miami scored the next two touchdowns—Kelce was consistently quiet. He was targeted only four times on the day, catching three of those passes. His receiving total was an anticlimactic 14 yards.

For context, Mahomes threw for 185 yards on the day. No Chief caught more than three passes, but Kelce’s receiving yards were the second-fewest non-zero number. His four targets did look a bit better (second-most behind Justin Watson), but that total was still fairly subdued.

Kelce’s Quiet Day Could Scare Chiefs Fans

At the start of this story, we touched on two different groups who could be scared by Sunday’s result. The first party could be Chiefs fans.

While the AFC West club escaped Germany with a big win, Kelce’s stat line plays into the major storyline of the season: The Chiefs offense lacks a secondary receiving threat.

Let’s return to Sunday’s stat line for a minute. No KC receiver caught more than three passes or accumulated more than 34 receiving yards. The ground game was a bit better, but Isiah Pacheco’s 66 yards on 16 carries isn’t exactly something to write home about.

Opposing defenses are, understandably, going to focus on Kelce and try to take him out of the game. And while you’d hope that he can find space and manage to make an impact, constant double-teams shift the onus elsewhere.

To be clear, this is less about the tight end and more about the rest of the offense. If No. 87 is locked down, then someone else needs to step up. Thus far, no one has done that consistently. And that’s a potential concern for Chiefs fans.

To win the Super Bowl, you are going to have to beat better and better teams. And those teams will have the talent to apply greater defensive pressure; consider, for example, how Miami boasts both Jalen Ramsey and Xavien Howard in the secondary. In those situations, which KC receiver will be able to create separation and make a big play?

That question, as of now, remains largely unanswered. Rashee Rice seems to be trending in the right direction, but it’s risky to rely on a rookie receiver when the chips are down.

KC’s Team Win Bodes Well for Their Chances

And while the tight end’s quiet day could be a cause for concern in Kansas City, there’s a flip side to that coin. If the Chiefs can beat one of the AFC’s other top dogs when Kelce didn’t have much of an impact, that should scare the rest of the league.

During much of Andy Reid’s time at Arrowhead, the KC offense ran the show; outscoring the opposition was the name of the game. In 2023, though, Steve Spagnuolo’s defense has stepped up. Through nine games, the Chiefs are within the top five in terms of total yards, passing yards, and points allowed per game.

And for a tangible representation of that improvement, consider Sunday’s outing. Miami, the offense that dropped 70 earlier this year, only mustered 292 yards and 14 points. The Dolphins were completely shut out in the first half, and Tyreek Hill managed only 62 receiving yards against his old team.

From a Chiefs perspective, this wasn’t a game that Chris Jones single-handedly dominated, either. Trent McDuffie led the team in tackles, while Mike Edwards recovered a fumble before lateraling it to Bryan Cook for a touchdown. At the risk of trotting out a cliché, it was a collective success.

The same could be said for the offense. While two touchdowns aren’t an impressive haul, Kansas City wasn’t reliant on one start to pull a rabbit out of their hat. Mahomes completed 20 of 30 passes for 185 yards, while Rice and Jerick McKinnon caught touchdown passes. Players like Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney didn’t have breakout games, but they each made plays when called upon.

Would the Chiefs be that much more dangerous with a reliable number-two option, like they had when JuJu Smith-Schuster was on the roster? Sure, but there’s also something to be said for a truly collective performance. If teams can keep Mahomes, Kelce and Jones largely quiet and still fail to defeat KC, then that’s bad news for the rest of the NFL.

One game, though, is not much of a data point. Maybe Kelce comes out of the bye week feeling refreshed and records a massive outing. Perhaps the Chiefs roster collectively stepped up on Sunday but can’t muster that level of performance every week.

Either way, though, Kansas City’s depth and ability to cope with that is going to be a reality that shapes the remainder of the 2023 campaign.