New Heights: Is This the Most Complete KC Chiefs Defense of Travis Kelce’s Career?
Six weeks into the 2023 NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs' offense is still finding its way and trying to get back to the form it displayed in years prior. Tight end Travis Kelce is a key cog in that machine, and the superstar pass-catching threat knows there's more work left to do.
With that said, Kelce is also taking notice of how great Kansas City's defense has been this year. On a new episode of the New Heights podcast with his brother Jason, Kelce was asked whether this is the most complete defense of his 11-year Chiefs career. While remaining complimentary of his past teammates, he said this might be the group that takes the cake.
"I mean, it sure seems to be," Kelce said. "Early on in my career, that was what we did was defense and Coach Reid found ways to get Jamaal the ball. Hand that thing off to Jamaal Charles and really use him as a wide receiver and just an offensive weapon. And our defense was star-studded with guys like Justin Houston, Eric Berry, Derrick Johnson, Dontari Poe, Tamba Hali, Brandon Flowers, we had some dogs. Shoutout to Sean Smith. Looking at that defense, a lot more star-studded [and] familiar names. I think Justin Houston had like 20 sacks one of those years. Whether it's one of them or the best, right now it's so much fun to play with that defense because they get it. They're flying around, they're having fun. It's definitely a team effort — guys are rallying to the ball — and Spags is one of the most motivating guys that I feel like there is in the NFL..."
Contrary to what many expected entering the season, this year's Chiefs defense has been one of the NFL's very best. It currently holds top-10 rankings in scoring, yards allowed, success rate, EPA per play and more. With more continuity from 2022 rookies in their second years and a few key additions from the free agent market, Steve Spagnuolo's unit is playing the best football it has since he took over as defensive coordinator back in 2019.
Each level of the defense has players performing at a high level. Up front, star defensive tackle Chris Jones is functioning at his usual All-Pro capacity and sophomore defensive end George Karlaftis looks improved. In the linebacker group, Drue Tranquill has served as an excellent offseason pickup and did a terrific job in relief of Nick Bolton when he was hurt. The secondary has standouts like L'Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie comparing favorably to their peers across the league. Kelce credits the secondary for a lot of the defense's success, saying it's contributing to everyone playing at a high level and rivaling the best Kansas City defenses of his time with the organization.
"J-Reid's (Justin Reid) killing it, Duffie's (McDuffie) killing it, I mean everybody's absolutely killing it," Kelce said. "I think a great addition was Mike Edwards. When the ball's in the air, he's a ball-hawking safety and is always flying around. And you just love to see the young guys. Cincinnati's own Bryan Cook is out there being an absolute menace, getting in the run game [and] when he finds ways to get around the ball, he's had a few opportunities for some turnovers and got a few already for us this year. When you get everybody, like you said, on the same page and then you get guys just freaking playing with confidence, that's tough to beat, man. It's tough to beat."
