New Heights: KC Chiefs' Travis Kelce Angry About Not Playing His Best Football

In this week's episode of New Heights, The Chiefs' star tight end takes accountability and vows that the team is hard at work to figure things out on offense.

The Kansas City Chiefs' 7-3 record indicates that Andy Reid's team remains one of the best in the NFL this season. That's entirely true, although things haven't necessarily been going smoothly in recent weeks.

Kansas City's offense, widely regarded as an elite unit in years past, is scuffling this year. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes's numbers are down, his offensive line isn't living up to expectations and his wide receivers are falling well short of the bar set before the season. On top of that, tight end Travis Kelce has been banged up for a couple of months and is the only reliable target Mahomes has. The result is a unit that has been shut out in three consecutive second halves of play, contributing to the lowest second-half scoring average in the league.

In Week 11 against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Chiefs had a very real chance to win the game. They carried a 10-point lead into the halftime locker room but couldn't get out of their own way in the third and fourth frames of play. According to Kelce on this week's New Heights podcast with his brother Jason, a lot of it is his fault. Kelce says he isn't playing his best football at the moment, and it's making him upset despite the Chiefs still being in a decent spot overall: 

"Turnovers are killing us. Penalties are absolutely killing us. I had one of both — I had a holding penalty and a drop and a fumble. I'm not playing my best football right now, man, and it's pissing me off every f— time I go out there. But as a unit, we're still together, and that's all that f— matters. Nobody's pointing fingers. Guys are getting fired up because guys want to be successful, I'm one of them, but we're still a tight-knit group. And as long as you've got that, you've got a fighting chance. We're 7-3 [and] I feel like we still control our destiny with the teams we play in terms of getting the one-seed. We're just going to keep coming to work every day, man." 

Kelce also echoed a message similar to the ones he's delivered at other points this season. Everyone in the Kansas City locker room is focused on finding a solution to the current problems facing the offense: 

"To Chiefs Kingdom, sorry that we didn't show our best football out there in the second half specifically. But I'll tell you what, man, you've got a lot of guys in that locker room that give a damn. We'll get it fixed."  

It's been a rough last three games for the Chiefs. After going into halftime down 14-9 to the Denver Broncos in Week 8, they proceeded to gain just 71 net yards in the second half and ended up losing by 15 points. Against the Miami Dolphins in Germany, Kelce and company had a 21-point lead at halftime but went 0-for-4 on third down in the second half en route to a 67-yard closing performance in a one-score win. Things were a bit better on Monday versus Philadelphia, but a Kelce fumble in the red zone and a Marquez Valdes-Scantling drop in the fourth quarter essentially sealed the team's fate.

The Chiefs have echoed the same sentiments about the offense this year. Whether it be Kelce, Mahomes, Reid or offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, the combination of penalties, drops and turnovers is something everyone knows simply cannot keep happening. Luckily for Kansas City, its defense is keeping it in most games played. Kelce, held to yardage totals of 58, 14 and 44 in three outings dating back to Oct. 29, is a part of the solution. He knows it, setting the table for a potential bounce-back game this Sunday in Vegas against the Raiders.

Chiefs ‘Like the Path’ Rookie WR Rashee Rice Is On