Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and Travis Kelce‘s quest for an unprecedented three-peat is off to a great start. Not only are the Kansas City Chiefs unbeaten through five weeks of the 2024 NFL season, but the team is also benefiting from the promising return of Kareem Hunt and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Both players, in fact, posted better numbers than Kelce in the Chiefs’ recent Monday night win over the Saints. However, Reid and Mahomes have nothing to worry about, as the veteran tight end is happy to see these familiar faces settle in so quickly.
“Well, both of these guys are familiar with the offense,” Kelce said on the latest episode of the ‘New Heights’ podcast with his brother Jason. “They’re familiar with the scheme. I think they’re familiar with the nucleus of the coaching staff and the players that we’ve got here.“
Hunt built on a strong performance in Week 4 with even better production in Week 5, recording 102 yards for a touchdown on 27 carries. Smith-Schuster, meanwhile, led the Chiefs in the air with 130 yards on seven catches. As for Kelce, the tight end had one of his best games in the 2024 NFL season with nine receptions for 70 yards.
Kareem Hunt #29 of the Kansas City Chiefs rushes during the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Saints at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on October 07, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri.
“Honestly, it just felt like we got our guys back in the building. There was no, like, ‘Alright, let’s ease them into it.’ It was like, no, they’re ready to rock and roll right now. JuJu’s won a Super Bowl with us, Kareem’s had unbelievable success in this offense before. So I think when it comes down to what Coach Reid is going to call, everybody’s very familiar on how to have success with it,” Kelce added.
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Both Hunt and Smith-Schuster reunited with Reid, Mahomes, and Kelce this year as the Chiefs were forced to make offensive additions. While the wideout was a free agency signing to complete the WR room, the running back rejoined Kansas City to fill the vacancy left by Isiah Pacheco’s injury in Week 2.
And it turns out that Monday’s game was their best performance in a very long time. Benjamin Solak of ESPN notes that Smith-Schuster‘s 130 yards are his most in a game since a 2021 Wild Card game with the Steelers, which took place 1,366 days before the Chiefs’ win over New Orleans. In addition, Hunt’s 102 rushing yards were his most since a 2020 season game with the Browns 1,422 days ago.
