Jason Kelce Explains What Makes Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes Undefendable

Kristen Wong | Sep 3, 2024

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

No one knows Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce quite like his brother, Jason. 

Ex-Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce joined ESPN's Ryan Clark on The Pivot Podcast on Tuesday to discuss everything from life after retirement to his brother Travis’s relationship with pop star Taylor Swift. Football fans may be more interested in what Kelce had to say about his brother’s relationship with quarterback Patrick Mahomes on the field, though.

Kelce was asked what he thought was special about the Chiefs quarterback and gave an extremely thoughtful answer.

“What is so good about Pat, and I think what is so good about probably Pat and Travis, is that they both operate within structure, but they still somehow keep that instinctual, creative mindset,” Kelce said (at the 51:30 mark in the video). “For a defense, how do you prepare for that? We know this play is coming, we think this play is coming out of this formation, and it is that play, and we got the perfect thing called. And then Pat and Travis do something different because they’re on the same page… I don’t know how you defend that. It ain’t like you’re defending a play, you’re trying to defend two guys that are gonna do something that you don’t know what they’re gonna do.”

Jason also elaborated on the “two buckets” of quarterbacks in the league, contrasting the analytical, before-the-snap organized type like Peyton Manning with the instinctual, “off-the-cuff” player like Michael Vick. To Kelce, Mahomes can operate in both those realms, and that unique talent makes him one of the most dangerous menaces to any given defense.

Heading into their opener against the Baltimore Ravens, Mahomes and the Chiefs are on the hunt for the historic three-peat, and they’ll likely need a big season from Mahomes’s right-hand man, Travis Kelce. The Kansas City tight end is coming off a down year in which he recorded 984 receiving yards, marking the first time he didn’t eclipse the 1,000-yard mark since 2016. 

Yet, if there’s one thing the team has proven time and time again, it’s to never bet against the Chiefs—especially when Mahomes and Kelce are tearing it up on the field.

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