Travis Kelce warned his Chiefs team their winning start to the season will end next week if they approach the Las Vegas Raiders game with the same mentality as last year.
The Raiders are the last team to have beaten the Chiefs, emerging victorious on Christmas Day at Arrowhead Stadium last year.
The game went so badly for Kansas City that Kelce lost his temper and slammed his helmet on the sidelines in a furious outburst, with his team going on to lose 20-14. He also appeared to clash with his coach Andy Reid during the game.
Next week in Vegas, the Chiefs will arrive with a winning 6-0 record but Kelce has told his team they have to avoid complacency.
‘I think we found out last year that if we don’t have the right mindset going into this game, this team can beat us,’ Kelce said in the locker room to Darren Smith, shortly after his team beat the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
‘That’s every team in the NFL but this rivalry in the AFC West division, that’s always a big game – no matter who we are playing in the division. The Raiders, that is always a tough opponent.’
As for Sunday’s 28-18 win in San Francisco – which was a rematch of last season’s Super Bowl – Kelce praised the depth of the Chiefs roster. They had to overcome the early loss of JuJu Smith-Schuster, whose involvement was curtailed due to the hamstring issue that troubled him all last week.
‘It’s about us, it’s about us getting better throughout the year,’ Kelce said. ‘The message was to go out there and play together.
After the Chiefs won their sixth (to start the season), 12th (since their last loss) and fifth (consecutive over the Niners) game 28-18 over San Francisco, I got a chance to speak with tight end Travis Kelce about the win, players stepping up, and playoff baseball #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/4MGNWnErXP
— Darren Smith (@DarrenSmithNFL) October 21, 2024
‘There are a lot of doubters with what we can do offensively right now with the guys that we’ve got. We showed everyone we can put up points today.
‘I love every single guy on this team. That’s our mentality – next guy up. Everybody feels their role, they want that opportunity to get out there and show the world that we’ve got everybody we need right here to win a championship.’
Speaking last year about his Raiders meltdown on New Heights, Kelce admitted his antics didn’t help the team.
‘He (coach Reid) is looking out for me and I love him for it,’ Kelce said. ‘I didn’t go back out there and play good. He wanted to see the fire in me and I reacted in a bad way.
‘He wanted the best out of me and right now I’m just not playing my best football.
‘I’ve got to f***ing lock the f*** in and be more accountable for him and more accountable for my teammates.’
Travis Kelce LAUNCHED his helmet on the sidelines
pic.twitter.com/igh3Gf6rwS— Footballism (@FootbaIIism) December 25, 2023
It was a quieter game for Kelce on Sunday against the 49ers once again with four receptions for 17 yards.
Kareem Hunt, Patrick Mahomes and Mecole Hardman scored the touchdowns for the Chiefs.
