Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce had one of his quieter performances of the season during KC’s Week 9 loss to the Denver Broncos, catching 6-of-9 targets for 58 yards.
Pro Football Hall of Famer and analyst Shannon Sharpe called out Kelce after the game for what he called an “awful look” and what he believes might be why Kelce had a quiet performance.
“We know the only receiver [Patrick Mahomes] can consistently count on is Travis Kelce, and he didn’t have his best day. And I’m kind of disappointed because, Friday night he was at the Rangers game,” Sharpe said on his “The Nightcap” podcast with former NFL receiver Chad Johnson.
Johnson asked Sharpe what was wrong with Kelce attending the Rangers game, to which Sharpe responded, “It’s the middle of the season!”
Unc and Ocho discuss Travis Kelce’s trip to the World Series
@ochocinco: “What’s wrong with that? You’re not gonna tell me you can’t enjoy yourself on a Friday night”
@ShannonSharpe: “It was in Texas. He lives in KANSAS CITY”
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“It was in Texas. He lives in Kansas City,” Sharpe told Johnson. “It’s an awful look. It’s a terrible look.”
Sharpe went on to explain that he was always told by his coaches to “get off your feet” on Fridays, which is why he feels Kelce boarding a plane to attend a sporting event on a Friday was a bad idea.
Chiefs Need Reliable Options Other Than Travis Kelce
Travis Kelce, despite coming off one of the quietest games of the season from a production standpoint, is not one of the problems with Kansas City’s offense. Instead, the issues with the offense are due to the receivers and quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Mahomes, though he had the flu, had a bad outing against the Broncos. He scored 0 touchdowns and had 3 turnovers (2 interceptions and 1 fumble). Aside from being sick Mahomes struggled against Denver because of the inability of his receivers to get open downfield. That led to just 241 yards through the air for the reigning MVP, with half of that yardage coming from Kelce and rookie receiver Rashee Rice (4 catches for 56 yards).
We know Mahomes will play better moving forward simply because he will get over his sickness and play like has been outside of Week 8. But the Chiefs’ receiver play is extremely concerning, and the trade deadline has passed, which means Kansas City’s receiver room is staying intact.
Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney were expected to take on prominent roles within the offense this season. Yet, Toney’s role has remained largely as a gadget player, and Moore has been unproductive despite a larger snap share (14 catches, 168 yards, 1 touchdown). That has led to the Chiefs heavily relying on a 34-year-old tight end and a rookie receiver to shoulder the workload in the passing game.
Yes, Mahomes is still quarterbacking the Chiefs, and he will guide the team to victory many times this season even with the inconsistent play around him. But the defending Super Bowl champions are one Travis Kelce injury away from having serious problems in the passing game, which is a thin margin for error for a team that’s trying to repeat as champions.
Twitter/X Reacts to Shannon Sharpe’s Comments
Users on Twitter/X reacted to Shannon Sharpe criticizing Travis Kelce.
“It takes two hours or LESS to get from KC to Texas. I don’t know where the game was played but Kelce is not the reason why we lost the game,” one user wrote.
@NightcapShow_ @ochocinco @ShannonSharpe It takes two hours or LESS to get from KC to Texas. I don’t know where the game was played but Kelce is not the reason why we lost the game.
“If (Travis Kelce) had made mistakes in the game like some of the others did, then I would agree 1,000%. Not his best game but no glaring issues from him,” another user wrote. “Might not have been a good look but had they won nobody would be talking about it.”
@NightcapShow_ @ochocinco @ShannonSharpe If he had made mistakes in the game like some of the others did, then I would agree 1,000%. Not his best game but no glaring issues from him. Might not have been a good look but had they won nobody would be talking about it.
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NFL Hall of Famer Blasts Chiefs TE Travis Kelce: ‘Awful Look’