Chiefs’ Kelce Offers Unique Perspective on Buffalo-Denver Showdown

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Don’t think for a second that Travis Kelce wasn’t watching Buffalo’s comeback win at Jacksonville last week.

Just because the Chiefs’ future Hall of Fame tight end is home for the postseason – for the first time in 11 years – he was watching Josh Allen and Trevor Lawrence exchanged four fourth-quarter lead changes before Buffalo prevailed, 27-24.

Best weekend of playoff football since ...?

“Best wild-card weekend since … last wild-card weekend,” Kelce said on Wednesday’s edition of New Heights. It’s playoff football, baby. You f---ing kidding me? We had four games decided by four points or less. The NFL is tighter than it's ever been in terms of the wins and losses.

“We don't have to get into how many one-score games I lost this year.”

No one wants to hear more about the Chiefs’ 1-9 record in those contests, especially the Chiefs. But just like the Jaguars and Bills, Kelce has a fascinating perspective on many of the playoff matchups because he lined up in one-score losses against a lot of playoff teams.

Kelce's Keys for Denver

Three of those games were the Chiefs’ 28-21 loss at Buffalo and a pair of nail-biting setbacks against Denver, 22-19 in Week 11 and 20-13 in Week 17. Those two teams square off Saturday (3:30 p.m. CT, CBS) in the opener of what most consider the best weekend of NFL football every year, the divisional round of the playoffs.

“The Broncos got to show up in the first half,” Kelce said. “Not that they didn’t against us, I'm just saying they're notorious right now for finding ways to win at the end of the game. They have to show up in the first half. It's just that you can't win in the playoffs by not putting together four quarters.

“I think the Bills, being a veteran team kind of trumps some of that. You got to play all four quarters against the Bills. You can’t let Josh Allen get up there -- he's a tempo controller, you know what I mean? And he'll, for sure, absolutely wear you down as a quarterback, man, both in the pass game and run game.”

In the three combined games the Chiefs played against the Bills and Broncos, Kelce combined for 193 yards and a touchdown on 18 catches. So, he knows a fast start is critical to coming out on top.

“I think if the Broncos come out making plays,” Kelce said, “Bo Nix comes out throwing the ball downfield early, being confident in his reads, this is going to be a hell of a f---ing game, and that's what I'm hoping for.

“And if you're Denver, man, you got to wrap that dude up, man. You got to find a way to not let Josh Allen break tackles and get outside the pocket, and not only make plays with his feet, but make plays with his arm outside of the pocket, because that's when you can really get f---ing torched.”

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