How Chiefs TE Travis Kelce could make NFL history with 168 receiving yards image
The Kansas City Chiefs, after missing the playoffs last season, are looking to return to their place atop the AFC West and the conference as a whole this upcoming season.
In what could be the final season of Travis Kelce's Hall of Fame career, he's looking to add to his incredible resume. But the regular season might not be where he'll make his mark. Instead, the Chiefs TE has a chance to make some NFL history in the playoffs.
As Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon highlights, Kelce is just 168 yards away from breaking Jerry Rice's all-time playoff receiving yards record of 2,245 yards. Kelce is close, and a good playoff run should be enough for the record.
Travis Kelce has a chance to break Jerry Rice's playoff receiving yards record
"Travis Kelce: All-time playoff receiving yards," Gagnon writes. "Kelce, who sits second of all time at 2,078, needs 168 yards in the 2026 playoffs to surpass the legendary Jerry Rice."
Kelce reaching 168 yards in a single playoff run is not an outlandish task at all. During his NFL career, he's made the playoffs 10 times. Since 2019, he's played in six playoffs, each reaching three games total.
Not once during that time did Kelce fall below 168 yards receiving. In 2024, his worst playoff season was a 175-yard playoff total, ending in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl.
But in 2023, he had 355 receiving yards, and in 2020 he had 360 receiving yards in a single playoff run. Reaching 168 yards in the playoffs for Kelce would not be a surprise at all.
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Kelce already holds the NFL record for most receptions in playoff history during a career with 178, and he can set the receiving yards record this upcoming season.
The Chiefs first need to make the playoffs, and Kelce needs to be healthy enough and playing at a relatively high level in his age-37 season to have a chance of breaking this record.
If all goes well, Kelce will have a real chance of breaking a receiving yards record set by Jerry Rice. That, more likely than not, won't happen in the regular season with Rice's ridiculous all-time mark.
So, Kelce might be the only player in NFL history to take a receiving yards record from Rice if he can get 168 yards in the playoffs. This is a record he can actually get, but first, the Chiefs need to get back to the playoffs.
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