Can Eagles Contain Travis Kelce Again?
Among the keys for the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII will be finding a way to slow down tight end Travis Kelce, the younger All-Pro brother of Eagles center Jason Kelce.
That's going to be quite the challenge, considering so few opponents have been able to do it over the past four postsesasons.
The Eagles can take some comfort in the fact they did pretty much shut down Kelce just last season, though there was an important caveat.
Let's start with Kelce's current playoff tear, which began with a 134-yard, three-touchdown outing in the Chiefs' 51-31 victory against the Houston Texans in the 2019 wild-card round.
Heading into Super Bowl LVII, Kelce has 13 touchdowns in 11 playoff games, including three in two games this season.
In those 11 games, Kelce reached double digits in catches five times and triple digits in receiving yards also five times.
In these playoffs, Kelce had 14 catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns in Kansas City's 27-20 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars, followed by seven catches for 78 yards and one score in the 23-20 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship Game.
THE EAGLES AGAINST TRAVIS KELCE
Kelce's postseason numbers, while certainly impressive, maybe aren't all that shocking considering how productive he's been in the regular season.
But when the Chiefs were at Lincoln Financial Stadium in October 2021, Kelce was very quiet.
In fact, he probably had his least productive outing over the past few seasons, catching only four passes for 23 yards on six targets.
The 23 yards represent his lowest total since the 2018 opener when he had 6 yards on one catch in a victory against the Los Angeles Chargers.
But here's the caveat, and it applies to both the 2021 game against the Eagles and that 2018 opener: The Chiefs didn't get much from Kelce in either game because Tyreek Hill went wild and Kansas City lit up the scoreboard anyway.
In that 2021 game against the Eagles, Hill had 11 catches for 186 yards and three touchdowns and the Chiefs left Philadelphia with a 42-30 victory.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs don't have Hill anymore after trading him to the Miami Dolphins in the offseason, and Kelce has become the focal point of the Kansas City passing game, which means the Eagles are going to have to be conscious of him on every down he's on the field.
THE EAGLES VS. TIGHT ENDS IN 2022
The Eagles led the NFL in pass defense during the regular season, both in terms of yards per game and yards per play, and that certainly showed up in terms of defending tight ends.
The most yards the Eagles allowed to an opposing tight end was 69 to the New York Giants Lawrence Cager in the regular season finale.
The Eagles faced both of the NFC tight ends selected for the 2023 Pro Bowl Games and controlled both of them — T.J. Hockenson had four catches for 38 yards for the Detroit Lions in the opener (before he was traded to the Minnesota Vikings) and the 49ers' George Kittle had three catches for 32 yards in the NFC Championship Game, though in fairness San Francisco's quarterback injuries clearly were a factor there.
But who knows exactly how much damage Kittle would have done even had 49ers starter Brock Purdy stayed healthy throughout the game.
Beyond Pro Bowl selections, the Eagles also controlled or shut down quality tight ends like Logan Thomas (4 catches combined in two games), Zach Ertz (6 catches, 48 yards), Dalton Schultz (7 catches, 83 yards in two games), and Cole Kmet (4 catches, 25 yards).
But now comes the Eagles' defense's biggest challenge of all when it comes to defending tight ends, and how well they handle it could go a long way toward determining whether they'll have their second Super Bowl title in six seasons.
Alain Poupart is a contributor for Eagles Today and is the publisher of All Dolphins for Fan Nation/SI. Follow him on Twitter at @PoupartNFL.
