Patrick Graham Reveals How Team Shut Down Chiefs TE Travis Kelce

Graham went with something of an unconventional way to shut down Travis Kelce, a method that he might use again this week against Raiders tight end Darren Waller.

Sometimes a defensive coordinator just has to think outside the box to get the desired results.

That's precisely what Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham did against the Kansas City Chiefs last week when it came to tight end Travis Kelce, who was held to four receptions (out of six pass targets) for 27 yards, 15 coming after the catch.

Kelce's final numbers tied his season-low in receptions--he had four in Week 4 against the Eagles--and were his second-lowest yardage output, behind the 23 yards he collected against the Eagles in that same Week 4 game.

On some of the plays against Kelce, Graham had cornerback James Bradberry cover the big tight end. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes twice targeted Kelce when he was up against Bradberry, and both times, the cornerback denied Kelce the reception.

Graham said he came up with the idea while studying the Chiefs on film.

"The Kansas City Chiefs, what they would do, they got in a lot of what we call a trey formation, where they’re in 11 personnel, they put the three receivers on the field, and they kept Kelce on the backside," he said. 

"A lot of teams do that formation kind of to ID you and see what coverage you’re in. So, it worked out for us to have JB back there."

It also didn't hurt that Bradberry, 6'1" and 212, matched up well size-wise against the 6'5", 260-pound tight end.

"You’re dealing with a big tight end like Kelce and then you’re able to match him up with a big corner," Graham said, noting that with the Patriots, they would similarly deploy Aqib Talib against tight ends. 

"When you get a chance to use a big corner on a tight end like that, sometimes the matchup plays out like that, whether we’re matching him up or the alignments and we’re trying to guess right."

Giants tight end Evan Engram thought the move by Graham to deploy Bradberry against Kelce was a stroke of genius.

"Yeah, the corners, man, they see receivers. They see all the speed. They’re out on the island, and they’ve seen the hardest matchups," Engram said. "Travis Kelce is no easy matchup. He’s seen it all from all different types of receivers. 

"It presents a challenge going against a corner because they’re the more experienced guys in coverage and especially in man coverage."

Graham was so encouraged by how the strategy worked out that he said he was contemplating having Bradberry line up across from Raiders tight end Darren Waller, who is second on the Raiders in reception (33) and third in receiving yards (378). 

"When you look at Waller this week, we’ll probably have two to three people in man situations end up covering this guy, but I’m sure JB will get a chance at him at some point," he said. 

"Anytime you’ve got a big corner, their skillset working with receivers or going against receivers, and then you add that size element versus a tight end, I think it potentially helps us."

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