Travis Kelce is on quite the ride lately. Last week was his third straight 100-yard game - the only player in the NFL to do that so far this year - and it was a career high 140 yards receiving. Add it together and it’s 23 catches for 349 yards over the past three weeks.
Raiders DC Ken Norton spoke to the media on Wednesday and he made it clear they know how often Kelce is targeted.
“No question,” Norton said when asked if Kelce is a key matchup. “He’s a premier player in this league. You see he’s high(ly) targeted. He’s a guy that’s really hungry for the ball. We’re going to have to deal with him.”
Kelce only had three catches for 32 yards the last time he played Oakland but he wasn’t in the groove that he’s in now. While we’ll have to wait and see how Jeremy Maclin’s (likely) return changes things, Kelce’s targets in the past three games: 8, 15 and 9. The Chiefs probably aren’t going to move completely away from him just because Maclin is back. At least I hope they don’t.
Target him, get it in his hands and let him do his thing because he’s probably the best tight end in the league in terms of yards after the catch.