Travis Kelce panic meter: How worried should Chiefs fans be about star TE?

They didn't play their best, but the Kansas City Chiefs found a way to win, improving to 3-0 after squeaking out a 22-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Patrick Mahomes was good enough, and Kansas City's defense stood tall (even if they got a little lucky), holding the Falcons to just three points in the second half to secure the victory.

What was abundantly clear when watching this game was that Patrick Mahomes has a favorite target not named Travis Kelce. Rashee Rice caught 12 of his 14 targets for 110 yards and a touchdown. Rice was the recipient of over half of Mahomes' passing yards and received nearly three times as many targets as the second-highest receiver, Kelce.

Speaking of Kelce, his slow start to the 2024 campaign continued. His four receptions and 30 yards were actually season highs for the 34-year-old, but still very un-Kelce-like. With his slow start in mind, how concerned should Chiefs fans be?

Chiefs fans should have some, but not a lot of concern about Travis Kelce's slow start

It's definitely eye-opening when arguably the greatest tight end in NFL history records eight receptions for 69 yards through three full games. Even when he had his 1,000-yard streak snapped at seven seasons in 2023, Kelce never looked as uninvolved as he has to start this season.

Kelce failed to record 1,000 yards receiving in 2023 for the first time since 2015, but he was just 16 yards shy of reaching 1,000. Sure, he wasn't exactly Kelce of old, but he was still a great tight end. Now, Kelce doesn't look like anything special.

There's definitely some concern that comes from this slow start, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, the Chiefs are not playing for regular season success. Second, there are more mouths for Mahomes to feed now.

The Chiefs are fighting for a three-peat, and as we saw last season, Kelce can turn it on when he wants to. He averaged over 88 yards receiving in his four postseason games in 2023 after averaging 65.6 yards per game in the regular season. He had three touchdowns in four postseason games after recording just five regular season touchdowns all regular season.

Kelce hasn't been nearly as good to start this regular season as he was in 2023, so there is some cause for concern, but as we saw last season, he left some of his elite play in the tank for when the stakes were at their highest. It's hard to believe Kelce will be a non-factor in the playoffs.

Plus, again, there are more targets for Mahomes to throw to. Rice was averaging 89 yards per game through the first two games of his second season, and just raised that average with his breakout performance in Week 3. Additionally, guys like Xavier Worthy and JuJu Smith-Schuster provide Mahomes with more reliable targets than he had in 2023. He does not have to force-feed Kelce to be successful.

Is it concerning that the 35-year-old hasn't done much through three weeks? Yeah, kind of, but history suggests he'll come up big in the postseason. The Chiefs are 3-0 and have won while limiting Kelce's touches. Until he proves otherwise, it's always easy to assume that he'll come through when Mahomes and the Chiefs need him most. Kelce coming up small in an important game for the Chiefs would be when it's time to really get concerned. For now, this feels more concerning for Fantasy Football managers than it does for Chiefs fans.

Panic Meter: 3