UNSTOPPABLE Force meets UNBREAKABLE bond: The Kelce-Mahomes connection and Bromance

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS tight end Travis Kelce’s route on third-and-3 in the third quarter of a Week 3 matchup against the Chicago Bears was supposed to take him to the back-right corner of the end zone, but he saw the defense leaving the middle uncovered.

So Kelce stopped there instead. That’s when quarterback Patrick Mahomes spotted him and got Kelce the ball for an easy, 3-yard touchdown.

With thousands of throws and countless hours in the video room between them, Mahomes and Kelce made the play work even though it wasn’t as the Chiefs designed it.

“You’re talking about two guys that have the instincts that not many people have,” Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said. “There’s a balance, because sometimes when you’re watching tape with rookies or guys that come in, [they ask], ‘Why did Kelce do that or do this?’ Well, he has an innate ability to recognize defenses. It’s on another level. What’s crazier is the fact that Pat knows it, too.

“Sometimes we don’t even practice it. They just do it. … There’s some stuff in there, DNA-wise, between those two guys, that a lot of people don’t have. They have that connection.”

The connection started in 2018 when Mahomes became the Chiefs’ starter, and it’s one of the NFL’s all-time greats between a quarterback and tight end. Kelce has 50 touchdown catches from Mahomes, making them the fourth QB-TE duo to reach that mark. They are also fourth for a quarterback and tight end in catches (550) and yards (6,895).

Most TDs By QB-TE Duo
1.Tom Brady & Rob Gronkowski 90
2. Philip Rivers & Antonio Gates 89
3. Drew Brees & Jimmy Graham 51
4. Patrick Mahomes & Travis Kelce 50
Most of those catches, yards and touchdowns have come from plays that were run just as coach Andy Reid designed them. But not all.

“I’m trying my hardest to just run this thing like Coach Reid dials it up,” Kelce said. “You want to get creative, but at the right time. … Coach Reid does a great job of putting a lot of work into making these plays make sense for the quarterbacks, so you don’t want to get off script too much.

“All that creative stuff is fun. But for the most part, I would say about 99% of the time, I’m doing what Coach wants me to do.”

Things don’t always go so well when the two players improvise. Mahomes nearly threw an interception against the New York Jets in Week 4 when Kelce stopped a route in the middle of the field and Mahomes threw it to the spot Kelce was headed.

But when it does work, it can deliver big results. In the 2021 AFC divisional round against the Buffalo Bills, Kelce told Mahomes he would alter his route to run up a seam in the pass coverage on the Chiefs’ final offensive play of the fourth quarter as they were scrambling to get into field goal range.

Kelce’s 25-yard catch set up the field goal that sent the game into overtime. The Chiefs went on to the Super Bowl.

“He does a great job of whenever he’s open, he doesn’t get himself covered,” Mahomes said. “Coach Reid gives them the freedom [that] if you’re open, stay there and don’t get yourself covered and run the route like we’ve run it in practice a thousand times. [Kelce] does a great job of that.

“It’s something that you can’t take for granted. It’s almost like he’s playing Madden, like he can read the coverage and stop in the windows and be open and be on the same page as me at all times.”

Over a stretch of three games this season, Mahomes completed 28 straight passes to Kelce. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the odds of all 28 passes being completed based on completion probability was 1 in 3,000.

Statistics like that are why Nagy said he has this advice for young receivers who come to the Chiefs wanting a connection with Mahomes like the one Kelce has: It’s going to take a long time, and in the meantime, don’t do what Kelce does.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has connected with tight end Travis Kelce for 50 touchdowns since 2018. They are the fourth QB-TE duo to reach that mark. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
YOUNG RECEIVERS AREN’T the only ones who marvel at how Mahomes and Kelce connect. Los Angeles Chargers coach Brandon Staley has watched his defense get beat many times by the two players.

In five games against the Chargers with Staley as their head coach, Kelce has 40 catches, 640 yards and six touchdowns.

“He does everything at such a premium level,” Staley said. “I think the thing that is tough is just the chemistry that he and Patrick have. No matter what the coverage is — man, zone, pattern-match zone — it doesn’t matter. He just has an outstanding feel of how to attack and beat leverage. When you have that type of feel in the passing game, he can get open when the play isn’t necessarily designed to go that way.