Leave it to Travis Kelce to prove that karma, indeed, is a tight end. Kelce's world-famous girlfriend was in attendance for the Chiefs' dominant 17-10 AFC championship game win on the road against the Ravens, but Kelce was the top performer in the stadium.
Kansas City's elite receiver provided another smash single for his future Hall-of-Fame sizzle reel by taking over in Baltimore to ensure his team would make a fourth trip to the Super Bowl in the past five seasons. From pregame warmups through the fourth quarter, Kelce was the Chiefs' game MVP, the clear offensive superstar in an otherwise defensive-minded battle of attrition.
Kelce, with Taylor Swift in attendance for the wild-card and divisional playoff victories over the Dolphins and Bills, had racked up 12 catches for 146 yards, including two huge TDs in Buffalo. He made sure vs. the Ravens that he, Patrick Mahomes, and the Chiefs will be looking for a repeat ring in Super Bowl 58.
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While there's some question on whether Swift can be in Las Vegas on Feb. 11, too, there's no question Kelce saved his best AFC playoff dominance for the Ravens. Here's looking inside his record-setting postseason performance:
Travis Kelce's stats in AFC championship game vs. Ravens
Kelce almost combined his stats from the two previous playoff games, catching all 11 targets for 116 yards and the dazzling first TD of the game. The Ravens tried to contain him with star young safety Kyle Hamilton in coverage at first, but none of their gameplan worked, as Kelce made every tough catch (as well as the easy ones) for Mahomes whenever needed.
Kelce added a five-yard rushing play for a first down in the second half. He also made some key blocks for power running back Isiah Pacheco to set the tone in the first half, including on Pacheco's own TD.
Before the game, Kelce hinted he was going to be in the Ravens' face all game by getting Ravens' kicker Justin Tucker and his practice ball out of the way for Mahomes' warmup. During the game, Kelce got into the heads of the Ravens' defense, helping to draw a key unnecessary roughness penalty on the Chiefs' half-ending field-goal drive.
While Kelce had a massive hand in helping the Chiefs score all 17 points in the game and making that hold up in the second half, he also got into exclusive, all-time postseason company.
What records did Travis Kelce set in the AFC championship game?
Jerry Rice has long been considered the consenus GOAT wide receiver. Now, Kelce has strengthened his case to be considered the consensus GOAT tight end by both surpassing and matching Rice in the same game.
Kelce (145) came into the matchup trailing only Rice (151) for all-time receptions in the NFL playoffs. He passed Rice by easily getting to seven receptions before halftime. Kelce, with his 11 total catches, now is ahead of Rice, 156-151. That record won't be broken for a while, if ever, with former Chiefs teammate Tyreek Hill (96), now with the Dolphins, second among active NFL players.
Rice needed 31 playoff games to set his mark. Kelce has played in only 21 playoff games. Kelce, with his 116 yards, also tied Rice for the most 100-yard receiving games in the playoffs with eight. He can break that mark with another century in Super Bowl 58.
Rice is still three ahead of Kelce (22 vs. 19) for all-time receiving TDs in the playoffs. Kelce is unlikely to break that record in one more playoff game, but he can tie it, given he did score twice on the Bills in the divisional round and has had three-TD games before.
Finally, Kelce inched up closer to Rice in all-time playoffs receiving yardage with an updated mark of 1,810. He's still 435 yards behind Rice there, who will keep that record for a while at 2,245 career playoff receiving yards.
Should Kelce keep playing in the NFL past age 35, he's bound to own both the 100-yard receiving and receiving TD playoff records. He probably will need to play at least two more postseasons to also get the yardage mark from Rice.
There's some question about where Swift stands among female pop artists of all-time. There's no question that Kelce is now the most dominant receiver at any position in NFL playoff history.
