A popular but ridiculous contention among Taylor Swift fans on social media in recent weeks has been the misguided notion that dating the pop star has put Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce “on the map.”
No one had to tell the Jets the challenges the eight-time Pro Bowler — and in the conversation with Rob Gronkowski and Tony Gonzalez as the greatest of all-time at his position — has been causing opposing NFL defenses throughout his 10-year career.
“Obviously, everybody goes into the week saying we have to stop Travis, and they don’t stop him,” Jets cornerback DJ Reed said. “Even in the Super Bowl [last season], I asked [Eagles cornerback] Darius Slay, ‘Man, what happened?’ He said, ‘S–t, we had a game plan.’
“But I feel like it’s the off-schedule stuff that you can’t really coach and can’t really get at practice. The off-schedule stuff, where you’re guarding him, but then [Patrick] Mahomes starts to scramble, and that’s when their magic happens.”
Indeed, as recently as the Chiefs’ 41-10 win in Week 3 over the Bears, Kelce improvised his route to grab a 3-yard touchdown reception from Mahomes in the third quarter for his second score of the season.
Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said Kelce’s football intelligence is “elite,” in terms of understanding the importance of leverage when in man coverage combined with an innate ability to “find the soft spots” in zone coverage.
“At the same time, you have a quarterback that doesn’t panic in the pocket. He will navigate the rush, he will buy time, and he will really fixate himself at times on Kelce and allow Kelce to get open,” Ulbrich said. “So it is a combination of all those things and a really good quarterback that can deliver the ball, obviously.”
The Jets used Pro Bowl cornerback Sauce Gardner at times last season to guard a top tight end — one example was Baltimore’s Mark Andrews — and head coach Robert Saleh said, “everything’s on the table” against Kelce and the defending Super Bowl champions.
The 33-year-old Kelce has averaged 101 catches, 1,289 yards and 9.4 touchdowns over the past eight years. And as Reed admitted, he always seems to be open despite game plans designed to stop him.
“Man, it’s crazy, actually,” Reed said. “Watching Kansas City last year, I’m not gonna lie, when the playoffs came, I was thinking it was gonna be tough for them to win the Super Bowl. But then just watching them, and the chemistry that Kelce and Mahomes have, it’s pretty exciting to see.
“For some reason, he’s always open, even in the Super Bowl. … Mahomes buys time, and he just gets open somehow.”
Following last week’s touchdown hook-up, Mahomes admitted that he felt pressure to find Kelce in the end zone with Swift seated in a suite with the tight end’s family. The pop star was expected to be in attendance again at Sunday night’s game at MetLife Stadium.
“Shoutout to Taylor Swift. I’m not a Taylor Swift fan, but it’s cool. But I’m focused on football,” Reed said. “No extra motivation; we just want to win, man.”
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