Current:Home > ContactCharles H. Sloan-It's a love story, baby just say yes: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, the couple we need -Capitatum
Charles H. Sloan-It's a love story, baby just say yes: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, the couple we need
PredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-10 13:20:00
Travis Kelce made his official return on Charles H. SloanSunday and all we can say is he fit back into Kansas City’s offense like a perfect rhyme.
August slipped away, and as good as quarterback Patrick Mahomes is, as the season opening loss to the Lions showed, he needs Kelce, because without him, the castle crumbled overnight. Kansas City brought a knife to a gunfight. The Lions took the crown but it's alright. Then came the Jaguars.
Mahomes is the best quarterback in football. Maybe the best player in the sport. But Mahomes needs his great receiving counterpart. This isn’t to say Mahomes will be asking, "Lord, what will become of me, once I've lost my novelty?"
It is to say that when you look throughout NFL history, some of the best offenses have a formidable one-two punch. They never had bad blood, they always had mad love. Not always. But a lot of the time. There was Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, Jim Kelly and Andre Reed, among others. Mahomes had that somewhat when Tyreek Hill was with the team but he definitely has it with Kelce.
When Miami signed Hill, Mahomes made it clear it wasn't some situation that needs to be handled. Hill was gone but Mahomes still had Kelce.
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
What makes Kelce so good? One word: explosive. His speed and fluidity allow him to run like a receiver and also make it impossible for a linebacker to cover him. Faster corners try, but at 6 feet 5 inches Kelce is often too tall for them. Combo and zone coverages often don’t work either because he’s a skilled route runner. He finds creases in defenses as well as any receiver in the league and his rapport with Mahomes makes things even tougher. Kelce is no Mr. Perfectly Fine.
Defenses, in fact, have a common refrain: Sorry, I can't see facts through all of my fury.
You saw Kelce’s impact against Jacksonville. It wasn’t a huge Kelce day but he did score a touchdown and the focus on him from the defense opened things up for other receivers.
Kelce isn’t just one of the most unstoppable forces in the NFL. He’s one of the most unstoppable in all of sports.
Read the latestWho is Travis Kelce dating? Rumors are buzzing over a possible Taylor Swift courtship
Defensive coordinators tell their players: you won’t stop him, you can only hope to contain him. Defensive players know it’s true, telling coaches they call up plays again just for Kelce to break them like a promise, so casually cruel in the name of being honest.
It's also fun to watch Mahomes and coach Andy Reid, two masterminds, around them the planets and the fates and all the stars always align. Amazing how they ended up in the same room, at the same time.
You also need to understand, Mahomes might say, why he lost his mind when Kelce was gone, and fought the wars, and why he spent Kelce’s absence trying to put it in words.
What also makes Kelce a problem for defenses is how Reid schemes him open. Reid doesn’t take Kelce’s abilities for granted. Spiderboy, king of thieves, weave your little webs of opacity, because part of the game plan with Kelce is to be as confusing to defenses as possible.
I’m sure Mahomes, when Kelce was gone, and the quarterback was looking back at the Week 1 loss to the Lions, thought to himself: It takes everything in me just to get up each day but it’s wonderful to see that you’re OK.
Kelce is okay. Kansas City is okay. All is right with the world. The team will be back on its vigilante stuff again, for all those who wrote them off after the first week.
And Kansas City fans are dancing in their Levis, drunk under a streetlight. Waiting for another Super Bowl ring.
And if they get burned, well, at least they were electrified.
(Hannah Yasharoff and David Oliver contributed to this story by ranking all of Taylor Swift’s lyrics. They are both untouchable, burning brighter than the sun.)
veryGood! (1)
Related
- Golf's No. 1 Nelly Korda looking to regain her form – and her spot on the Olympic podium
- A former UK nurse will be retried on a charge that she tried to murder a baby girl at a hospital
- Former Massachusetts transit worker pleads guilty to 13 charges, including larceny, bribery, fraud
- Lil Nas X, Saucy Santana, Ice Spice: LGBTQ rappers are queering hip-hop like never before
- What to watch: O Jolie night
- Dane Cook Marries Kelsi Taylor in Hawaiian Wedding Ceremony
- Researchers have verified 1,329 hunger deaths in Ethiopia’s Tigray region since the cease-fire there
- McDaniels says he has confidence in offense, despite opting for FG late in game
- IOC's decision to separate speed climbing from other disciplines paying off
- 'Rick and Morty' Season 7 trailer reveals new voice actors: Who is replacing Justin Roiland?
Ranking
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas Reach Temporary Agreement Over 2 Kids Amid Lawsuit
- Pilot dies in crash of an ultralight in central New Mexico
- On a visit to Taiwan, Australian lawmakers call for warmer relations with self-ruled island
- Olympic disqualification of gold medal hopeful exposes 'dark side' of women's wrestling
- Kidnapped teen found after captors threaten to cut off body parts, demand $500,000 ransom
- Hollywood writers, studios reach tentative deal to end strike
- 9/11-related illnesses have now killed same number of FDNY firefighters as day of attacks: An ongoing tragedy
Recommendation
What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
Journey to celebrate 50th anniversary with 30 shows in 2024: See where they're headed
AP PHOTOS: Rugby World Cup reaches the halfway stage and Ireland confirms its status as favorite
A Drop in Emissions, and a Jobs Bonanza? Critics Question Benefits of a Proposed Hydrogen Hub for the Appalachian Region
Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
Ohio State moves up, Washington leads Pac-12 contingent in top 10 of NCAA Re-Rank 1-133
Kelly Clarkson surprises Vegas street performer who didn't recognize her with Tina Turner cover
At least 1 killed, 18 missing in Guatemala landslide