KC Chiefs Proud of 'Special' Record Set by Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce
The Kansas City Chiefs won their Divisional Round game against the Buffalo Bills for a variety of reasons, but the duo of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce was at or near the top of the list.
For the NFL's best quarterback-tight end partnership, this was yet another elite performance to add to their decorated resume over the years. Since Mahomes took over as the team's full-time starter back in 2018, all Kansas City has done is get to the AFC Championship Game at worst in each season. This year, despite some doubt from the outside, is no different. With a pair of 2024 playoff games in the books, Mahomes and Kelce added to their legacies and broke a record in the process.
With two Mahomes-to-Kelce touchdowns in Orchard Park, they've converted on 16 scores in the postseason. That passed a record previously held by New England Patriots (and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to a lesser degree) legends Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. Following Sunday's game, head coach Andy Reid tipped his cap to his two best offensive players for another job well done.
"Patrick and Kelce with the record they broke there with Gronk and Tom, that was a great job there," Reid said. "Kelce had two touchdowns and some big catches."
Of course, Kelce's playoff career isn't solely attached to Mahomes. He played in four postseason contests before No. 15 took over, although he had just one touchdown in them. Since Mahomes got under center, the future Hall of Fame pass-catcher has 17 touchdown receptions and well over 100 total catches. The Divisional Round marked his fourth career playoff game with multiple receiving touchdowns. Entering the AFC title game, he's six catches and four touchdowns away from tying Jerry Rice's career postseason records for a receiver of any kind.
In 16 playoff games, Mahomes has built quite the stat line as well. The reigning NFL MVP has completed nearly 67% of his passes while throwing for 4,561 yards and 38 touchdowns with just seven total interceptions. Of those 16 games, three-quarters of them consisted of multiple touchdown passes. Together, Mahomes and Kelce have combined for some epic performances when it matters most. Mahomes says it's a special connection.
"We always emphasize getting the ball to Travis, but passing anything that has Brady and Gronk in it is special," Mahomes said. "Those are two of the greatest players — Tom is the greatest player — and one of the greatest tight ends of all time. Those are great postseason players. To be mentioned in that and passing that, you appreciate that. It speaks to Travis and his work, being able to go out there and make plays in big games. We always emphasize getting Travis the ball. He did a great job of getting himself open and then once they started putting a lot of attention on him, other guys like MVS (Marquez Valdes-Scantling) make plays. That's what it takes, it takes everybody. Everybody's got to make plays in order to win playoff games."
This weekend, things won't get much easier for Kansas City. The one-seed Baltimore Ravens await at M&T Bank Stadium, fresh off a blowout victory over the Houston Texans. On paper, the Ravens are likely the best team in the conference and may be the best in the entire NFL. With that said, odds and logic haven't always applied to this year's Chiefs team. For most of the regular season, Reid and Matt Nagy's offense struggled to move the ball, Mahomes looked out of sorts relative to his normal production and Kelce appeared to have slowed down significantly. None of that was the case against Buffalo.
To be fair, the Chiefs likely won't be able to spam the Mahomes-Kelce button in every playoff game they have moving forward. But in a season that's taken it away so often, at least flashing that option is massive. For a weekend, the best duo in the NFL was back in full force. Mahomes and Kelce sent a reminder in the Divisional Round, too. Current league rankings don't always need to be the focus — this is one of the best pairings ever.
