Travis Kelce warned his Chiefs team that 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 beat the Chiefs, emerging victorious on Christmas Day at Arrowhead Stadium last year.
The game went so poorly for Kansas City that Kelce lost his temper and in an angry outburst smashed his helmet on the sideline, with his team losing 20–14. He also appeared to clash with his coach Andy Reid during the match.
The Chiefs arrive in Vegas next week with a winning 6-0 record, but Kelce has told his team to avoid complacency.
“I think we figured out last year that if we don’t have the right mentality going into this game, this team can beat us,” Kelce said in the locker room to Darren Smithshortly after his team defeated the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
Travis Kelce has told his Chiefs team they must avoid a repeat of last season’s Raiders game
After the Chiefs won their sixth (to start the season), 12th (since their last loss), and fifth (consecutive over the Niners) games 28-18 against San Francisco, I got the chance to sit down with tight end Travis Kelce talking about victory, players stepping up and playoff baseball #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/4MGNWnErXP
— Darren Smith (@DarrenSmithNFL) October 21, 2024
“That’s every team in the NFL, but this AFC West division rivalry is always a big game no matter who we play in the division. The Raiders, they’re always a tough opponent.”
As for Sunday’s 28-18 win in San Francisco — 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 problem that had plagued him all week.
“It’s about us, it’s about us getting better throughout the year,” Kelce said. “The message was to go out and play together.
“There are a lot of questions about what we can do offensively with the guys we have. We showed everyone that we can score points today.
“I love every guy on this team. That’s our mentality: next man up. Everyone feels their role, they want that opportunity to come out and show the world that we have everyone here that we need to win a championship.”
When talking about his Raiders meltdown at New Heights last year, Kelce admitted his antics didn’t help the team.
“He (coach Reid) takes care of me and I love him for that,” Kelce said. “I didn’t go back and play well. He wanted to see the fire in me and I reacted negatively.
The Chiefs are undefeated at 6-0 on Sunday after beating the San Francisco 49ers
Kelce lost his cool in the last game against the Raiders, a loss on Christmas Day
‘He wanted the best from me and at the moment I’m just not playing my best football.
“I need to lock the hell down and be more responsible for him and more responsible for my teammates.”
It was a quieter game for Kelce on Sunday against the 49ers with another four receptions for 17 yards.
Kareem Hunt, Patrick Mahomes and Mecole Hardman scored the touchdowns for the Chiefs.
