FOXBORO — Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce should be preparing for a frustrating day at the office Sunday as he gets set to face off against a Bill Belichick-coached Patriots defense.
Belichick openly acknowledged that the Patriots had a plan to “neutralize” edge defender T.J. Watt and wide receiver George Pickens in last week’s 21-18 win over the Steelers. It worked. Watt was held to just five tackles and one tackle for loss while facing off mostly against right tackle Mike Onwenu. Watt did get injured on the first play of the game but was on the field for most of the contest. After the game, he was diagnosed with a concussion but has since cleared protocol. Pickens caught just five passes on six targets for 19 yards.
Prior to last week’s game, Belichick was asked about Watt and gave a 364-word response about everything he does well.
Belichick’s longest response in this Wednesday’s presser was when he was asked what continues to make Kelce so dangerous. It was only slightly shorter than his answer about Watt.
“He’s got a real good feel for how to play, how to get open. He has a great chemistry with (quarterback Patrick) Mahomes. A lot of his plays come on extended plays, loose plays. He certainly gets his share of run a route, get open, and get the ball, but I would say a lot of his plays don’t come like that. The play starts and then something happens, and then he adjusts the route. Or, Patrick scrambles, and then he finds him. He does a good job of getting open.
“He’s got good size. Even when you cover him, there’s a place to throw the ball where the defender can’t get it. He’s just big and has a big catch radius. He’s good with the ball in his hands. He’s a good runner after a catch. He’s got a strong, stiff arm. I wouldn’t say elusive, like a slot receiver elusive, but he’s a hard guy to tackle because he’s big and athletic. They get him on some design plays, bubble screens, and things like that where they almost hand him the ball. He can make yards with it after the play, like they do with other players. There’s a few of those for him, too.”
With Tyreek Hill now in Miami, running back Isaiah Pacheco’s status in doubt and an overall depleted pass-catching corps, it’s fair to assume that the Patriots’ defensive game plan against the Chiefs will include trying to neutralize Kelce on Sunday.
They’ve done it in the past too. In seven games against the Patriots, Kelce has never put up 100 receiving yards. He has just 37 catches on 55 targets for 376 yards with two touchdowns in those five contests. Kelce averages 53.7 yards per game against the Patriots and 74.3 yards per game against every other team. The Patriots have used cornerbacks against Kelce in the past, but they don’t have a player of that caliber on the roster this season.
The Patriots’ offense has ranked among the league’s worse this season and are largely to blame for the team’s 3-10 record. But the defense ranks 10th overall in DVOA — 21st against the pass and first against the run. They’re middle of the road — 14th — at defending tight ends.
“We’ve got to make sure we tackle,” linebacker Jahlani Tavai said of Kelce. “A lot of his film, he makes plays by breaking tackles.”
Rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice is the Chiefs’ second-leading pass-catcher with 59 receptions for 663 yards with six touchdowns. If Pacheco can’t play, then Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Jerick McKinnon would have to step up in his place.
Belichick opened himself up for questions about Kelce’s girlfriend, pop star Taylor Swift, before the season began when he talked on WEEI about being at one of her concerts this summer at Gillette Stadium.
“That was pretty impressive,” Belichick said on “The Greg Hill Show.” “She’s tough, man. Just stood out there and played right through it.”
He delivered a classic quote on Kelce at the time saying, “Well, I would say that Travis Kelce has had a lot of big catches in his career. This would be the biggest.”
Now as the game nears, Belichick was much more willing to talk about Kelce than to play along when asked about the possibility of Swift being in attendance for Sunday’s game.
“I’m really focused on trying to get our team ready to play Kansas City,” Belichick said this week on “The Greg Hill Show.”