Cardinals' Trey McBride Surpasses Travis Kelce, Sets New NFL Record

Arizona Cardinals TE Trey McBride has had a historically dominant season, and Week 15's contest against the Houston Texans saw that continue.

McBride, with his fifth reception, surpassed Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce for a 16th consecutive game with 5+ receptions, which establishes a new NFL record.

McBride has been a lone bright spot in Arizona during their 3-10 start to the season, dominating NFL defenses on a weekly basis.

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That's something Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans touched on during prep for the Cardinals this week:

"The thing that jumps off the tape for me with him is his speed and explosiveness at the tight end position," Ryans said of McBride.

"You truly feel like he's a bigger guy but runs like a wide receiver. Really runs well. He's physical. Really great hands. He's really a unique player at the tight end position. He's done a great job of catching the football, and they've done a great job of scheming plays for him."

Entering Week 15, McBride collected 93 receptions for 937 yards and eight touchdowns on the year. He's one of the top vote-getters for tight ends in Pro Bowl voting -- which would mark his second consecutive appearance while a first All-Pro nod is certainly around the corner, too.

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This past offseason, McBride earned a massive four-year, $76 million contract that temporarily made him the highest-paid tight end in NFL history before buddy George Kittle surpassed him.

Often times you see a player see a downswing in production after receiving a payday, though McBride's seemingly only gotten better.

“I think every week I find something new that I admire about his game and him as a person," Cardinals starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett told reporters on McBride.

"His ability to play through a bunch of ‘BS’ -- he's not getting any (penalty) calls and not that you cry for calls. Then I go back (through the film) and he was even more open than I thought he was -- it is just stuff like that. Last week, the guy (Buccaneers player) comes out of the huddle and he's like, ‘Man, he's running a seam, help me’ to the safety and it just wasn't enough. It's just like stuff like that -- you can't even put it into words.

"You feel it when you're in the game because it's like -- yeah, Trey's just going to make the play. He wants it. His ability to just want the ball, want to be successful and want to win. I remember my college coach always said like (that) when you turn the film on, you want to make sure somebody can tell that you want to win. I think that's very evident when you turn a film on. Watch Trey.”

McBride also had the following accolades within reach entering Week 15:

With 1 TD reception, McBride would have 9 TD catches in 2025. That would tie Hall of Famer Jackie Smith (9 in 1967) for the most TDs by a TE in a single season in franchise history.

With 2 TD receptions, McBride would become the first Cardinals player with 10+ TD catches in a season since WR Larry Fitzgerald (10) in 2013.

With 7 catches, McBride would become the first TE in NFL history to have 100+ receptions in back-to-back seasons. McBride (2) would join Travis Kelce (3) as the only TEs in NFL history with multiple seasons of 100+ receptions.

With 63 receiving yards, McBride would become the first TE in franchise history with multiple seasons of 1,000+ receiving yards.

There hasn't been much to cheer about this season in the desert, though McBride is certainly worth celebrating.