Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is one of the most productive players at his position in NFL history, so you’d think opposing defenses would be all over that at all times. But with 6:08 left in Saturday’s game between the Chiefs and the Denver Broncos, quarterback Patrick Mahomes hit Kelce for a three-yard touchdown pass, and Kelce was hilariously wide open.
Wiiiiide open to @tkelce for six!
📺: #KCvsDEN on ESPN pic.twitter.com/MlwNAmgbQT
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 8, 2022
How can this happen? Well, it happens more often than you might think. In fact, it happened in a very similar fashion to the Bengals in Week 17. With 2:50 left in the first quarter of that game, a 34-31 win over Cincinnati, Mahomes hit Kelce for another three-yard touchdown, and the design of the play should look quite familiar.
It’s a nasty bit of schemery from head coach Andy Reid and his staff in which the red zone defense has to deal with the receiver in motion from left to right, the play fake, crossers both ways, and Kelce with a delayed release on his own crossing route. That’s a lot of moving parts, and it’s easy for defenders to get lost in the wash.
No matter how good your defense might be.
