Tight ends step into the spotlight

KANSAS CITY, MO. When Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes headed up the tunnel inside Arrowhead Stadium to have X-rays taken on his sprained right ankle, and Chad Henne trotted onto the field in the second quarter of their divisional playoff game against Jacksonville, it was obvious who the backup quarterback was going to target.

Not that the Jaguars could do anything about it.

Henne’s first throw went to Travis Kelce. So did another. And another. And by the time the Chiefs were on the doorstep of the end zone, it was the all-pro tight end whose short touchdown grab finished off a 98yard scoring drive.

In that respect, Kelce was like a big, comfy security blanket for the Chiefs, who went on to win 27-20 and advance to a Sunday night rematch with the Cincinnati Bengals for the AFC title. Kelce finished with 14 catches, one off the NFL playoff record, and along the way continued his run on career statistical charts too numerous to count.

“Every time I step up here,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said afterward, “I feel like he breaks another record.”

Kelce isn’t the only standout tight end in the conference championships, though.

The Bengals feature Hayden Hurst in their high-flying attack, and the 49ers’ George Kittle and the Eagles’s Dallas Goedert will square off in the NFC title game.

But it’s been Kelce who, over the past decade, has continued to revolutionize the position. He is athletic enough to beat one-on-one coverage. Crafty enough to find holes in zones.

“It’s like Travis knows exactly where Patrick is, what he’s going to do ... How they get that, I’ll never know,” said Chiefs defensive co-ordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

Each of the tight ends playing Sunday brings something unique.

Hurst keeps defensive backfields from focusing entirely on Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd, taking some of the pressure off one of the best trios of receivers in the game.

Goedert brings a physical attitude to the potent Philadelphia offence. Or, as Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts put it, when he’s on the field “he’s trying to punish somebody. He’s not trying to spare no man.”

His counterpart in San Francisco is equally tough to tackle, though not because Kittle bulldozes defenders so much as he makes them miss. Kittle did that on five catches for 95 yards in their divisional win over the Cowboys, and sets the tone. “Times we sort of feel uptight and whatnot, Kittle is like, the guy to put a smile on your face and say, ‘Hey, we’re good enough,’ ” 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy said.

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