It’s not often that you see someone set the record for the most touchdowns by a non-quarterback for an NFL franchise like the Kansas City Chiefs. In fact, the record was last set 20 years ago, when Priest Holmes scored his final touchdown in 2005.
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Of course, records were always made to be broken, and that’s exactly what Travis Kelce did on Sunday afternoon during the Chiefs’ Week 11 loss to the Denver Broncos. The future Hall of Fame tight end entered the day tied with Holmes’ record, but a 21-yard touchdown reception on a critical third down allowed the 13-year veteran to claim the franchise crown. It also gave Kansas City a 19-16 lead in the fourth quarter. But the Chiefs lost the game 22-19.
Weeks before the Broncos’ battle, Travis tied the TD record during the October 27 game against the Commanders. He was clearly caught up in the moment and celebrating, but in doing so, he left one of the most historically relevant pieces of that moment, the football, lying on the ground.
Thankfully, his fellow future Hall of Fame quarterback was able to track it down for him. “He’s the guy,” Kelce smilingly remarked during his post-game press conference on Friday. “He’s been known to make sure that guys get that memorabilia that could be personal to them down the road. That’s just one of those things that Pat is good at. His awareness is crazy,” Kelce added, praising his teammate.
Whether a fellow Chief is scoring the first touchdown of their career, or their 84th, Kelce proudly noted that Mahomes is always cognoscente of his teammates’ potential milestones. Although he’s surely had plenty of practice by celebrating all of the touchdown records that they have broken together.
After Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, as well as Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates, Kelce and Mahomes are just the third QB-TE duo in NFL history to account for 75+ touchdowns. Throw in the fact that they’ve also managed to win three Super Bowls together, and it’s hard to deny them as one of the greatest gridiron combinations that we’ve ever seen.
Thankfully, for both of them and the Chiefs, they still have seven more games left in the season to record some more, and hopefully that will translate to some more wins. Not only did it relegate Kansas City to a 5-5 record, but the Week 11 loss to Denver effectively slammed the door shut on their chances at winning their 10th divisional title.
The Chiefs will now need to win as many games as possible and get a little bit of help from the field in order to make the playoffs. If this is the end of the dynasty, then you can at least expect them to go out swinging, as Kelce will likely want to notch at least three more touchdowns before potentially calling it a career.
