3 Surprising Chiefs Who Will Lose Playing Time in 2024

Despite the concern throughout the season and Chiefs fans inevitable concerns that'll rise from some random player struggling this year, all that really matters for Kansas City is how the team is playing in the postseason.

We learned from last year's 11-6 regular season that this team has earned the right to coast at times. It's hard to give maximum effort at all times when you know the Week 5 result doesn't ultimately matter.

With several important Chiefs entering the twilight of their careers and others with injury concerns, I expect the coaching staff to prioritize long-term health over necessarily winning every single week in the regular season. As a result, some important players should see diminished snaps to ensure they're healthy for the long run.

3 Surprising Chiefs Who Will Lose Playing Time

1. Travis Kelce - TE

Travis Kelce missed Week 1 with an injury and seemingly had a nagging ailment throughout the season, though he ultimately sat out Week 17 and went on to dominate playoff opponents en route to a second straight Super Bowl win.

He's back for at least two more seasons, and a major priority for the coaching staff this year will be ensuring that the greatest tight end of all-time is 100% when the postseason starts. After drafting promising TE Jared Wiley in the fourth round, I think the Chiefs will manage Kelce's snaps and this will be the least we've seen him on the field since he became Kansas City's starting tight end.

With Noah Gray and Irv Smith Jr. in the fold too, the Chiefs have the luxury of letting Kelce get some extra rest.

Kelce's 1,000-yard streak is already snapped. Frankly, I don't care if he only has 500 receiving yards this year provided he's good to go in the postseason.

Consider that Kelce had just 88 total yards in the last three games he played in the regular season. He then promptly caught 32 passes for 355 yards and three TDs in the playoff run. That should teach Kansas City a lesson to give him some more rest throughout what should be a difficult schedule this year.