Vahe Gregorian: Patrick Mahomes learned this from Travis Kelce, and it's still vital to Chiefs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The profound connection between Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce is so uncanny as to prompt paranormal explanations.

Like, say, a mind meld, telepathy or ESP.

That supernatural sensation has been almost tangible at times: from the “Do it, Kels” episode in the 13-second game against Buffalo in 2022 to the preposterous scene captured via mic-up against Houston in 2020, to what then-Denver coach Vic Fangio once called the “karma between them” — it enables them to ad-lib simultaneously.

It’s also true, though, that their connection started in a worldly way — with endless practice reps, to be sure, and quite literally being spoken into existence.

Not so much in terms of efforts to describe a spectacle that defies logic.

But, in fact, the whole way they got launched.

Particularly after Mahomes in 2018 became QB1.

By then already an established star, Kelce often made it a point after a practice series to speak with Mahomes about what had, or hadn’t, worked in the sequence.

Those chats tended to include what was going right or wrong or could be better. They also addressed broader notions of route running, creating synchronicity and contouring their preferences.

“After every series, it felt like he’d come up and ask me what I was seeing, ask me why I wanted to throw it here and stuff like that,” Mahomes said Wednesday as the Chiefs (5-0) prepared to play Sunday at defending Super Bowl champion Seattle (3-3). “And I think just through those conversations, I started understanding what he was seeing.”

Next thing you know, Mahomes found himself increasingly in Kelce’s mind. And it blossomed into something spectacular.

“I’m like ‘All right, he did this because that,’ ” Mahomes said. “And that kind of built up. And then now he’s able to do a lot of freelancing in the offense because we’re on the same page kind of, probably, like 90, 95 percent of the time.”

So, magical as it’s been, it’s not magic that’s made those indelible moments — one of which in particular remains Kelce’s favorite.

As he spoke with The Kansas City Star at his locker the other day, Kelce laughed and shook his head about how many bewildering connections they’ve enjoyed. Then he settled in on the aforementioned moment against the Texans in an AFC divisional round game the Chiefs rallied from a 24-0 deficit to win 51-31.

Along the way, Kelce was struggling with a hamstring he said he got “needled and scraped” at halftime.

Next thing you know, though, Reid “dialed me up” on an out route that then-Texans safety Justin Reid knew was coming and covered perfectly.

At least until Kelce pivoted.

“I just, like, turned my shoulder to go the other way, and the ball was already in the air,” Kelce said.

Smiling as he recalled approaching Mahomes on the sideline afterward, Kelce added, “‘How did you know? I didn’t even know I was going to do that.’ ”

Or as the “Inside the NFL” mic’d up version had it:

“ ‘There was nothing telling you I was going to do that,’ ” Kelce tells Mahomes, “ ‘and the ball was in the air before I did it.’ ”

To which Mahomes replied: “ ‘That’s what I wanted you to do.’ ”

But the point of all this isn’t nostalgia. It’s because the notion is topical still and again.

Not so much because the 37-year-old Kelce is revitalized in his twilight years.

But because the Chiefs remain in flux at receiver with Tyquan Thornton out for the season with an ankle injury and Rashee Rice uncertain for Sunday night as he tries to return from a hamstring injury.

In a 22-6 victory over the Chargers last week, that meant a cast that included second-year man Jalen Royals getting 45 snaps (with two receptions) and the first NFL receptions for rookie receiver Cyrus Allen and practice-squad call-up Andrew Armstrong (42 snaps).

The afternoon also featured Xavier Worthy with his best game of the season — and perhaps his best since an eight-reception, 157-yard outburst in the Chiefs’ 40-22 loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.

All of it, though, was a reflection of what Kelce imparted to Mahomes — the talk-it-over concept Kelce said stemmed from head coach Andy Reid, former Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson and former Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith.

Reflecting Reid’s “let your personality show” mantra, Kelce said, “you get to know someone more and more, and you kind of built that camaraderie and chemistry naturally.”

More directly, Kelce said, Pederson and Smith “were probably the two guys who first even got me talking about routes” and how to vary them within the scheme.

“You just kind of start to pair how you see football together,” Kelce said.

While that’s stood out the most with Kelce, Mahomes being what Reid called a great communicator informs the dynamics with all receivers — not to mention the entire locker room in various ways — when it comes down to the nitty-gritty: typically connecting in what Reid called “a split-second in a small window.”

So the conversations happen in training camp, during games, film study, “Camp Mahomes” in Texas with receivers over the years and, well, who knows when else?

But Mahomes being Mahomes, and animating the offense in Reid’s vision and beyond, this isn’t one-way stuff.

“ ‘I want to hear y’alls thoughts,’ ” he said he’ll tell receivers. “ ‘I want y’all to talk and talk about what ya’ll are seeing on the football field. Because if I can see what y’all are seeing, then I know where to put the ball at the right time.’ ”

He added, “I think those conversations are huge.”

They have been to Worthy, who said Mahomes is “really good about letting you know where he wants you on a route — whether that’s spacing, whether that’s yardage, and how he’s going to throw it.”

And equally good about wanting input, Worthy added.

“It’s both sides,” he said. “It kind of correlates together. Like, what you’re comfortable with and what he’s comfortable with and just making it work.”

Stunningly so with Kelce ... and all the more so with others because of that enduring influence.