The Chiefs’ inability to score a touchdown Sunday before halftime of their 28-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills was a big topic on the latest episode of the New Heights podcast.
Star columnist Sam McDowell broke down all the mistakes the Chiefs made in the sequence Sunday that led to a field goal instead of a touchdown.
But Jason Kelce, the brother of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, sees a simple solution for Kansas City when near the end zone and would have loved to see it Sunday.
The Tush Push.
While Travis Kelce lamented not being able to catch a pass from Patrick Mahomes in the end zone on third down, his brother said a quarterback sneak would have made the difference.
Jason Kelce noted that Bills quarterback Josh Allen scored twice against the Chiefs on sneaks. And, on the podcast, Jason Kelce said “we” when talking about the Chiefs.
“That was going to be a tough catch, I hear you,” Jason Kelce said. “Here’s the reality: That play before half, we’ve got to be able to Tush Push that thing in. They got two. We need to get the Tush Push down. And we need (Chiefs tight end) Noah Gray or somebody over there, to get the Tush Push down.
“That’s how they scored every time they got to the 1-yard line. Josh Allen, Tush Push. Philadelphia Eagles, that’s how we score every time we get to the 1-yard line. You can’t go into halftime only getting three points because you don’t ... got a Tush Push in the damn play.”
The Chiefs haven’t run a quarterback sneak with Patrick Mahomes since Oct. 17, 2019. On that night in Denver, Mahomes suffered a dislocated kneecap after running a sneak in the Chiefs’ 30-6 victory.
Jason Kelce then explained why the Chiefs haven’t run a sneak with Mahomes after that freak play in Denver.
“I get that Pat can’t do the Tush Push because he’s got funky knees. We got to have somebody doing the Tush Push, damn it,” he said.
Funky knees? That sounds like something Travis Kelce has told his brother about Mahomes.
That seemed like a freak play in 2019, but perhaps there is something with Mahomes’ knees that make a quarterback sneak impossible.
Travis Kelce, who had also lamented the Chiefs kicking a field goal at the end of the first half, countered that Tush Push argument by noting the Chiefs have a short-yardage option.
“Or we just, you know, strike with no leverage, head in the hands, run the feet and give the ball to Kareem Hunt, who’s one of the best right now at short-yardage situations,” Travis Kelce said.
Later, Travis Kelce added: “All I’m thinking of is that last drive (of the game), now we’re throwing a Hail Mary instead of trying to kick a field goal to tie it.”
Travis Kelce on big hit
On that third-down incompletion before halftime, Kelce had little chance to catch the pass from Mahomes. And Kelce absorbed a huge hit from Buffalo’s Cole Bishop.
Kelce went to the locker room before halftime, but returned and played the second half.
“It knocked the wind out of me,” he said. “He caught me. I got kind of sandwiched in there.”
Kelce was evaluated for a concussion in the locker room, and he was annoyed at having to answer the questions that are part of the test.
“Before a concussion or after a concussion. I don’t know who we played last week,” he joked. “We’re in week nine. Are you kidding me? Who did we play last week?
Kelce paused and said: “The Commanders. We played the Commanders.”
When he was walking to the locker room before halftime, Kelce seemed to relish hearing from Bills fans.
That indeed was the case.
“Going up to Buffalo is not an easy thing,” he said. “That stadium was rocking. That place was electric. Shout out to all the Bills Mafia that was talking all the (smack) in the world.
“And it’s just a sacred place to play a football game. And I cherish every game that I get an opportunity to go up there. But it ... sucks when you don’t come away with a victory out there, because they let you have it.”