Kelce, in cuss fest, says K.C. woes ‘not just 1 guy’

Adam Teicher, ESPN Staff WriterDec 27, 2023, 11:14 AM ET
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- Covered Chiefs for 20 seasons for Kansas City Star
- Joined ESPN in 2013

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Travis Kelce showed his frustration with the Kansas City Chiefs‘ offensive struggles by throwing his helmet on the sideline during Monday’s loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.

The star tight end revealed it again in his “New Heights” podcast with brother Jason, saying everyone — including himself — has a hand in the offensive problems.

“It’s not just one guy,” Travis Kelce said. “It’s not just me playing like dog s—. It’s not just us not being able to get the run game going. It’s not just us not being on the same page, passing-wise. Everybody’s in this f—ing thing together. Everybody at some point isn’t being accountable.

“Every single play is somebody not doing their job, and it’s me … it’s everybody on the team. And whether that’s prep, whether that’s having the confidence and understanding of what the defense is in their coverages, their gaps in the run game, how we’re picking up blitzes, how we’re running routes versus certain coverages. All the above.”

Sloppy offensive play has been the most consistent feature of the season for the Chiefs (9-6), who have more dropped passes (34) than any team in the NFL. Kansas City also is tied for the most offensive penalties (56) and is sixth in turnovers (26).

The Chiefs have lost three of their past four games but own a two-game lead atop the AFC West and can clinch the division title with a victory Sunday over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Asked by Jason how the Chiefs could fix the problems, Travis said: “Everybody’s just got to f—ing do their job.”

The Chiefs had minus-18 yards of offense in the first quarter of their 20-14 loss to the Raiders — the lowest opening-period total for any NFL team in 12 seasons. Both Las Vegas touchdowns were scored on defense, one on a fumble return and one on an interception.

“Throughout the season, we’ve shown during drives that we can be a high-powered offense if we don’t hurt ourselves with penalties, if we’re not playing first-and-f—ing-20,” Kelce said. “Every other drive or every other set of first downs just hasn’t been a well-oiled machine like we’ve been in the past, and we just got to get everybody on the same f—ing page.

“Maybe that’s just getting into the facility and just talking things out together. Maybe that’s getting a few reps after practice. Maybe that’s getting a few more reps, mental reps with each other in the film room. Whatever it is, we got to do something else because it’s been pretty consistent that we haven’t been on the same page. We just got to take a little bit more ownership in what we’re doing. And I’m not saying that I’m out of this. I’m the main part of this, and you got to try and find a way to clean this s— up.”

Patrick Mahomes said Wednesday that the Chiefs’ frustration shows “that people care.”

“People see frustration and they think it causes controversy,” Mahomes said. “I see it as a way of showing that people care. They care about their profession, they care about trying to do whatever they can to win games

“When I see stuff like that happen, obviously we want to be in a positive light and everything like that, but I see someone that cares about the game and someone that wants to be better and not better for themselves but for the team.”

Kelce also said he regretted throwing his helmet Monday. Chiefs coach Andy Reid prevented an equipment manager from returning Kelce’s helmet and spoke briefly with Kelce. Reid afterward said Kelce played well after the incident.

“He’s looking out for me, and I love him for it,” Kelce said. “I didn’t go back out there and play good. He wanted to see the fire in me, and I reacted in a bad way. He wanted to just get the best out of me. And right now, I’m just not playing my best football and I got to f—ing lock the f— in and be more accountable for him. Be more accountable for my teammates. I got to keep my f—ing cool, man, because as a leader on this team, that’s not how you switch the momentum.”

Reid added Wednesday that the Chiefs’ “tolerance level for not doing as well as we should” has decreased because of the franchise’s success.

“The game of football is an emotional game, so that’s expected,” Reid said. “You see those things happen. We’ve just got to make sure we generate it in the right direction and we go that way and fix the problems.”