Sawt Falasteen - Kelce's football smarts give Eagles defense a headache

Mahomes and tight-end Kelce combined for 110 catches this regular season for 1,138 yards and 12 touchdowns - with three more coming in the playoffs.

Not since the days when Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski combined with such effect for the New England Patriots has the league seen such a consistently effective pairing of quarterback and tight end.

"We have to have a plan for what they like to do," said Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.

"Everything is coming with him. He's got run-after-catch abilities. He's explosive. He's got ball skills. He's got a huge catch radius and he's very intelligent," he added.

Kelce's football intelligence is also the key attribute that Tom Melvin, the Chiefs tight-end coach for the past decade, who works with him every day.

"He is probably one of the most instinctual, intelligent football players I've ever been around. In 24 years in the NFL and coaching in college," Melvin told AFP.

"He studies fast, he remembers, it makes sense to him and you really have got to keep him involved because he's going to easily get bored sitting in a classroom or the same thing on the field. You got to really keep him engaged," he added.

- Key target -

The 34-year-old has been a key target for Mahomes from the quarterback's arrival in the team, but their combination has been even more important this season after the Chiefs traded their top wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

Traditionally a tight-end was expected to do as much, if not more, blocking as receiving but Kelce's main role is to get open for Mahomes, both in the red zone and for key short passes to get first downs.

Kelce, whose brother Jason will feature on Sunday for the Eagles, is more than just a big target and a safe pair of hands. What places him in conversations about the all-time great tight-ends is his ability to escape coverage.

"Travis studies, he comes off like a happy, go-lucky guy but he studies like crazy, he knows defenses and can see react to them quickly during the games," said Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.

"Teams have doubled him, banged him around, put corners, safeties, linebackers on him. They have tried a lot of different things.... sometimes they work sometimes they don't," he said, noting the strong relationship he has on and off the field with Mahomes.

Kelce puts some of that understanding down to his past as a high-school quarterback before he switched roles during college.

"You have an understanding what the quarterback is going through back there, if you are in the quarterback's mind and thinking with him and the chemistry is there, there are things you can do to get open and make his life easier.

"That is my job to paint a picture for the quarterback to make his job that much easier -- a clear cut, decisive picture of where to go. Then when I get the ball in my hand that is when the fun starts," he added.

Kelce's performances have drawn comparisons with some of the great tight-ends in the game such as former Chief Tony Gonzalez, Gronkowski and former Denver Broncos Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe.

Sharpe, now a television pundit, believes Kelce, who has had an unprecedented seven straight seasons with more than a 1,000 yards receiving, may soon top that list.

"If Kelce wins the Super Bowl, I'm gonna say Kelce, Gronk, myself, Gonzo," Sharpe said. "I think Kelce is on pace to be the GOAT tight end."

O.Farraj--SF-PST