GLENDALE, Ariz. — Unlike in royal families of ancient times, Travis Kelce didn’t have to commit fratricide to steal the throne from his older brother.
All the younger Kelce brother had to do to hold up the Lombardi Trophy at the end of an epic Super Bowl 57 was catch six passes for 81 yards and a touchdown — and be teammates with the incomparable Patrick Mahomes.
Two weeks of build-up about the Jason versus Travis Kelce Bowl culminated with the brothers’ mother Donna on the field wearing a half-and-half jersey and one shoe colored for each of her opposing sons during the pregame activities. And then both boys made her and their respective fan bases proud Sunday night with their contributions in a 38-35 victory by Travis’ Chiefs over Jason Kelce’s Eagles at State Farm Stadium.
As always, Travis had everyone wondering, “How is he that open?” throughout the first half, whether he was beating Marcus Epps for an 18-yard touchdown pass on a double move to the corner of the end zone for a game-tying touchdown on the Chiefs’ first offensive possession, or settling in the middle of the defense for chunk first downs.
Travis tied Rob Gronkowski for the third-longest streak in NFL history by scoring a touchdown in his sixth straight playoff game. Only John Stallworth (eight) and David Givens (seven) have longer streaks, according to ESPN. He also set a new NFL playoff record for consecutive games with six or more catches.
After Mahomes limped to the halftime locker room in agony and returned handing the ball off at the start of the third quarter, Travis made a shoestring catch that boosted confidence that the most explosive offense in the NFL might still resemble itself in spite of Mahomes’ ankle. Twenty-four second-half points later, yes indeed.
Jason’s name isn’t in the box score, but his impact was all over it. He anchored an offensive line that limited the Chiefs to just two sacks and shut out the duo of All-Pro Chris Jones (15.5 sacks in the regular season) and Frank Clark, whose 13.5 career playoff sacks rank third all-time.
Just as impressively, Jason opened up a massive hole for Jalen Hurts on his second rushing touchdown and cleared out the interior defensive line on multiple quarterback sneaks that extended Eagles drives.
It was the second Super Bowl ring for Travis, while Jason remains stuck on one. They could both be headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, though Jason’s impact on Travis’ career is more measurable: When Travis was kicked off the team at Cincinnati, Jason let him live at his apartment, eat his food and went to the coaches to fight for his brother’s second chance at a football career.
There is no telling whether Jason will get a second shot at Travis in a future Super Bowl.
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