Getty Chiefs TE Travis Kelce
When a team is used to scoring at will, sometimes emotions run wild when they are finally being controlled. This is what happened for the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 5.
The Chiefs suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday night to the Indianapolis Colts. They were held to just 13 points in the loss that saw many players leave with injuries. One player that stayed healthy but did not perform well was Travis Kelce.
Kelce has been the model of consistency in Kansas City. On Sunday night, Kelce had trouble holding on to the ball and had a few uncharacteristic drops. In those drops, one was a near fumble but Kelce did not have full control of the ball. He was clearly off his game and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy reminded him of it.
Kelce and Bieniemy were seen on the sidelines having a heated conversation that ended with Kelce pushing his offensive coordinator.
The two seemed to make up later as Kelce went over and hugged Bieniemy but the damage was done. On Monday, head coach Andy Reid dismissed the incident and said that they are not the first team to have something like this happen.
“Listen, you see that every week, everywhere. That’s football,” Reid said. “It’s an emotional environment. Travis had a potential couple of fumbles going on where they had the ball. He was mad at himself, and EB (Bieniemy) got after him a little bit. Those things happen, but it all worked out all right afterward. That happens — you just don’t have that many cameras normally than you do on a Sunday night game.”
Travis Kelce vs. Indianapolis Colts
If there is one player on the Chiefs who lets his emotions show, it is Kelce. He is an energetic player who can be seen dancing in the end zone and yelling on the sidelines to fire his team up. On Sunday, it worked in a negative way.
Kelce finished with four catches for 70 yards in the loss against the Colts. For any tight end, these are solid numbers but not for a player like Kelce who has had three straight 1,000 yard seasons. After the drops and near fumbles, Kelce was unhappy with his play and he let it get the best of him during the game.
“If you look around the league, it’s an emotional game. You see grown men up here who have tears in their eyes after a game,” Reid said. “You know, that also carries on the field. They all want to do good. Coaches want them to do good and the players want to do good. Emotions get involved sometimes.”
The Chiefs are a well run organization. Reid has the team under control on the field and on the sidelines. There is no doubt that this incident was addressed and it will not happen again. the Chiefs have a Week 6 matchup against the Houston Texans coming up. Kelce is due for a big game and this offense will look to get back on track.