Travis Kelce's ‘Tom & Jerry’ play, acting help Chiefs pummel Eagles

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The mouse gets the cheese — and please forgive the Philadelphia Eagles if Kansas City’s first touchdown during Sunday’s 42-30 romp left the defense feeling a bit cartoonish.

The play is called “Tom & Jerry” and was the brainchild of All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce.

“That play specifically is something Trav made up during a little walk-through period or special teams period,” said Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire. “Some of the guys kind of go off on the side and we end up making it happen, playing the Tom and Jerry role.”

As Kelce motioned across to unbalance the formation, Edwards-Helaire fakes a counter then follows Kelce and a pulling Joe Thuney to the unbalanced side, where quarterback Patrick Mahomes flipped an underhand pass 15 feet for a 1-yard touchdown.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Mahomes said. “The first underhand pass, Kelce actually made up and he used himself as a decoy to kind of open it up. When you have receivers coming up and saying, ‘Hey, I think if I do this it'll get someone else open,’ that’s a special group of guys.”

Edwards-Helaire, who finished with 114 total yards and a score, accidentally let the name of the play slip during his postgame remarks but laughed it off to a chorus of chuckles.

“Obviously, I’m Jerry and Trav was Tom on the play, so you all can kind of figure it out from that point,” Edwards-Helaire said. “Go watch it.”

The Chiefs were through with the goal-line hijinks.

Kelce put his acting skills to the test later in the first half, feigning confusion before again breaking toward the sideline as a decoy.

Fellow tight end Jody Fortson slipped, who lined up as a halfback, followed Kelce’s action across the formation and caught a forward option flip from Mahomes for his second touchdown in two weeks.

“We told him to give it a little bit of a Hollywood sell,” Mahomes said. “Telling Kels to give a little bit of anything, you’re going to get a lot. He showed his acting skills and got us a touchdown to Jody. To be able to do all those different cool things keeps everybody alive and ready to go.”

Kelce only had four catches for 23 yards after starting the season with a two-touchdown game and back-to-back 100-yard efforts, but he still contributed in a big way to put points on the board — ensuring family bragging rights.

Kelce’s brother, Jason, plays center for the Eagles.

—