![\"Travis](\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA1wRPM2.img?w=1920&h=1080&m=4&q=79\")
<\/p>\nIt was a point that didn\u2019t receive much attention until after the Kansas City Chiefs secured their second straight Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers.<\/p>\n
Around this time last season, tight end Travis Kelce and the Chiefs faced a meaningless Week 18 game \u2014 then against the Los Angeles Chargers. The tight end was amid an historic 1,000-yard-season streak that spanned seven years.<\/p>\n
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has a history of permitting players to pursue records and monetary incentives in Week 18, and all Kelce needed was 16 yards to get there. The decision was up to him.<\/p>\n
Kelce opted to sit out, giving himself an opportunity to rest and recover for the postseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a lot to play for personally and a lot on the line personally at stake, and for the betterment of the team, he didn\u2019t play,\u201d remembered passing game coordinator Joe Bleymaier as he spoke to the media on Thursday. \u201cHe said it would be better for me to rest for us going forward as a team.<\/em><\/p>\n I think that without it even being said, that permeated through the entire locker room. Here\u2019s a guy who’s got everything on the line in regard to this decades-long legacy. He knows where we\u2019re trying to get to in February \u2014 and he\u2019s giving that up for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Following his week of rest, Kelce appeared rejuvenated in the playoffs, seeming like his 28-year-old self again. In each of the Chiefs\u2019 four postseason games, he recorded at least 71 yards. He scored twice in Buffalo and added another score in the AFC Championship game in Baltimore.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember him just having just a little extra more,\u201d said offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. \u201cIt\u2019s critical when you can get to that point. He\u2019s been doing this for a long time. He\u2019s got more reps than most people in this league, so when you can take advantage of that and get these types of games where you get a bye week, for him, it\u2019s massive taking to you into what matters the most in the playoffs.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Kansas City has already announced that quarterback Carson Wentz will start in place of Patrick Mahomes on Sunday against the Denver Broncos. It\u2019s also unlikely defensive tackle Chris Jones, running back Isiah Pacheco and right tackle Jawaan Taylor \u2014 who have all been out of practice nursing injuries \u2014 will suit up.<\/p>\n It\u2019s reasonable to assume the 35-year-old Kelce will join that list after a season that began slowly but picked up momentum midway through.<\/p>\n \u201cI go back to when we all were in these conversations earlier in the year and talking about, \u2018Did he lose a step? And he\u2019s not getting the football,\u2019\u201d recalled Nagy. \u201cLike three games later \u2014 I know Rashee [Rice] got hurt \u2014 but he had like 16 targets one game.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Nagy remembered right \u2014 as Kelce caught 14 of those targets for 100 yards in Kansas City\u2019s Week 9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe beautiful part about Trav is that he does not care,\u201d added Nagy. \u201cHe wants to continue to just keep winning. He cares about these trophies, he cares about winning, extremely unselfish, how he takes care of his body in practice throughout the week. It\u2019s just special. You\u2019re not going to see many tight ends like him, and what he does is rare.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d say he\u2019s having a hell of a season right now, and I think, if you ask any of these guys, they\u2019re ready to just keep this thing going.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was a point that didn\u2019t receive much attention until after the Kansas City Chiefs secured their second straight Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers…. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22744,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n