Kansas City's Tight Ends Hold Key to Offense's Success for Rest of the Season

The Kansas City Chiefs have had an up-and-down 2014 season so far. From an offensive standpoint, the running game with Jamaal Charles, Knile Davis and rookie De’Anthony Thomas is the biggest strength. However, the tight ends have been productive in a big manner.

While working together as a tight end duo, Travis Kelce has been a pleasant surprise as Anthony Fasano continues to play as one of the better tight ends in the league. The two have made a big impact in helping the Chiefs move the chains.

Kelce has 20 catches on the season, and 17 of them have gone for first downs. For Fasano, he has pulled in 12 receptions, with nine of them giving the offense a new set of downs.

If you include Demetrius Harris’ sole catch, the tight ends have caught 33 passes, and 27 of them have translated into first downs. When Alex Smith throws to a tight end, the Chiefs produce a first down 82 percent of the time.

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Kansas City’s tight ends have also scored a touchdown in four of the five games the team has played in, as they own half of the eight receiving touchdowns by the team this year.

Andy Reid has gone pass heavy, abandoning the running game, in two games this season. While it is reasonable to question Reid’s offensive play-calling, passing the ball more than running it is also rational, if it is done right and it works.

Alongside scoring, the most important thing for an offense to do is to avoid three-and-outs. For Kansas City, the best way to avoid that, besides running, is to get the ball in the hands of Kelce and Fasano.

With the tight ends showcasing their strength as a unit, Kelce has a skill that not many tight ends possess. He showed off his speed while prepping at Cincinnati and this past preseason. Kelce has carried that over to the regular season, coming away with a couple of big catch-and-run plays.

The Chiefs have not had a dominant tight end since trading Tony Gonzalez before the 2009 season. The team drafted Tony Moeaki in 2010, who had a promising rookie season. However, his career was derailed by injuries, forcing the franchise to part ways with him. In between Gonzalez’s trade and the end of 2012, the Chiefs had Leonard Pope and Kevin Boss help the Chiefs improve at tight end, but it never worked.

Today, Kelce appears to be the best tight end the team has had since 2009. Despite missing his rookie season with a knee injury, he has bounced back strong this year as a player who is climbing up the ladder to become one of the best tight ends in the league. With Fasano next to him, Smith has a pair of viable tight ends upon whom he can rely every time.

Coming off the bye, expect the Chiefs to exploit defenses by throwing to Kelce and Fasano and letting them help the offense move forward and inch closer to the end zone. Reid’s game plan should be to run more, but if he insists on passing more, the first option should be to Kelce and Fasano.

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