“Sometimes we don’t even practice it. They just do it. … There’s some stuff in there, DNA-wise, between those two guys, that a lot of people don’t have. They have that connection,” Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy had said. Well, that says it all about what is there between reigning Super Bowl MV Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce.

No wonder the Chiefs Kingdom has witnessed their fireworks since their dominance started in 2018. Over the years, Kelce and Mahomes have connected for 51 TDs, according to the Kansas City Chiefs’ official website. This has tied them with PFHOF QB Drew Brees and TE Jimmy Graham for the third-most QB-tight end touchdown connections in league history. However, last Sunday, in their Week 12 game against the Carolina Panthers, something occurred that wasn’t very Kelce and Mahomes-like.

Late into the third quarter, when the Chiefs were looking for a first and 10 deep into Carolina’s 30-yard line, Mahomes found his bestie open downfield. As usual, the Chiefs QB tried to throw the ball onto Kelce. But his target was a little off, which led to Kelce failing to hold onto the pass. Even though he stretched both of his hands, the ball ended up hitting the turf.

This led to Kelce turning around in frustration and yelling an expletive as cameras caught him doing so. “Always expect the ball from Patrick Mahomes,” Charles Davis said on the CBS broadcast. Going through those clips, it just looked like a moment where Kelce was upset with the play. However, his day wasn’t that bad as the Chiefs TE finished with six receptions for 62 yards. In fact, he also made his way to the records book during the game.

Kelce, 35, entered the November 24 game six yards behind Antonio Gates, an eight-time Pro Bowler who amassed 11,841 yards during his 16-year career with the Los Angeles Chargers. During the game, Kelce caught a pass from Mahomes, resulting in a 19-yard reception. This took Kelce’s receiving yards to 11,854, as he surpassed Gates for third place. The only two NFL tight ends who hold more receiving yards than Kelce are Dallas Cowboys’ Jason Witten with 13,046 yards and former Chiefs player Tony Gonzalez with 15,127 yards.

As for Mahomes, he completed 27-of-37 passes for 269 yards and three touchdowns. But the three TDs he had on Sunday didn’t find Kelce in the end zone. Instead, the other TE, Noah Grey, racked up 2 TDs for 66 yards. Back-to-back double TD games for Grey. Though the instance of the tension between them might seem off to the fans, they might not have forgotten an instance of miscommunication between the two in this season itself.

Earlier in the preseason, Kelce ran the wrong route during the Chiefs’ game against the Detroit Lions, and Mahomes had to get creative. He threw a behind-the-back pass to Kelce, which somehow ended up as a first down. Mahomes had later explained, “Long story short, Travis didn’t run the route he was supposed to run, and it was kind of a behind-the-back pass, kind of, because I was mad at him. He was supposed to run a flat route…and he doesn’t run it. Oof spite, I threw a behind-the-back pass but now it’s going to be a highlight.” But whatever it is, look what the two have built together.

On January 21, during the Chiefs’ Divisional Round win over the Buffalo Bills over the Buffalo Bills, Mahomes hit Kelce for the combo’s 16th career postseason touchdown. It moved the Mahomes-Kelce tandem past Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski for the most playoff scores all the time by a QB-receiver duo. Well, during the Panthers game, Kelce also didn’t have Taylor Swift in attendance, as she missed two games in a row, all of them on the road. However, the Chiefs Kingdom didn’t like Kelce possibly cussing Mahomes, so they blamed him instead.

Are the fans partial to Patrick Mahomes over Travis Kelce?

One of them called him out for blaming Mahomes while masking his mistake, “He should have caught it. No excuse! Looked like he blamed Patrick.” There was another who called him out for having drops every now and then. “He has one of those drops about once every 2 or 3 games. Just inexplicable.” While people continued to throw Kelce under the bus for his frustrations.

One of the fans called both of them out for equal blame, “That ball was catchable, but that throw was also off. Both made mistakes.” The fact is, the throw indeed was not perfect. Despite that, it was Kelce, who was mostly on the target for the simple miscalculated pass, as they went into their phones and bashed him online, “Don’t know why that on Kelce both hands on the ball got to catch it.” Well, Kelce did throw both hands on the pass but still couldn’t grasp it because of a last-second adjustment. But Mahomes has always been a favorite, isn’t he? Take the instance from September.

During the Chiefs’ key AFC battle between the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals, in the first quarter, Mahomes missed an open Kelce low on a basic slant pattern over the middle. That is OK, even the greatest of the greats do miss. But look at CBS’ Tony Romo. When CBS went to a replay of the sequence, Romo claimed that Mahomes intentionally threw the ball low toward Kelce to avoid a sack and praised his “instincts” for doing so!! But, never mind, that’s Mahomes and he really does things that have taken the Chiefs where they are. See the Panthers game.

The Chiefs had to grind till the last moment. It was Mahomes’ late 33-yard run and Spencer Shrader’s field goal that helped them seal the 30-27 victory in Carolina, thereby helping them get back into the winning column after the Bills loss last weekend.

Moreover, as fans continue to debate who was to blame for the incomplete pass, we have reports of all-around disappointment from the Chiefs locker room. Local KC media wrote about how even after the victory, the locker room wasn’t that spirited. The defensive players were particularly disheartened after a poor showing, and even Mahomes, who likes to chat with his teammates, didn’t hang around for conversations. On his part, Chiefs HC Andy Reid did try to raise the spirits, highlighting the uncertain nature of games in the NFL, and all that matters is a win.