Is Travis Kelce playing tonight vs. Raiders in Week 5?

The Kansas City Chiefs take on the Las Vegas Raiders and Travis Kelce will be one to watch for the visitors. The tight end has been in good form so far over the past four weeks and will be looking for another improved performance as he has been named to start.

Many thought that the Chiefs' offense would struggle with the loss of Tyreek Hill as he was traded to the Miami Dolphins. Nonetheless, the Chiefs have not missed a beat, going 3-1 as they sit on top of the much-vaunted AFC West.

Kelce leads the Chiefs in receiving yards with 322 and Juju Smith-Schuster is second with 224 receiving yards. Hill's absence has not been felt so far as Kansas City has put up over 40 points twice in four games.

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Kelce a huge problem for the Raiders

Kansas City Chiefs v Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In truth, the tight end is a problem for every team in the league and the Raiders are the next team tasked with trying to curtail his influence. Through four games, the the 33-year-old has not been held under 50 receiving yards. That will need to happen if the Raiders have any chance of getting their second win of the season.

In Kelce's last five games, the tight end has ammassed 471 receiving yards from 32 catches and has two touchdowns. Before last year's second matchup in December, the tight end was on a run of three consecutive games against the Raiders, totaling over 100 yards receiving per statmuse.com. It is also worth noting that he averages a whopping 14.7 yards per catch as well.

So it is clear that the Raiders defense has a problem trying to stop the 33-year-old. But it is something that they will need to do. Before their 32-23 win over the Broncos last week, the Raiders lost their opening three games of the year. A loss to the Chiefs will have them sitting at 1-4, making the playoffs a steep challenge to mount.

This is not something many expected given the additions to the Las Vegas squad during the offseason. It will be a critical game in the Raiders' season, and if they are to pull off a win, Travis Kelce can't be allowed to get loose in the secondary.

About the author

Adam Schultz is an NFL journalist at Sportskeeda with over 5 years of experience. He prides himself on the accurate reporting of facts by double-checking every piece of information in his articles, and knows what exactly to highlight in them owing to his in-depth knowledge of the teams he covers.

Adam is a supporter of the Dallas Cowboys, who were the first team he saw play. Dez Bryant is his all-time favorite player, mostly due to the wide receiver's athleticism and the unique lack of weaknesses in his game.

If Adam could go back in time and watch any game, he would want to witness the “Dez Caught It” playoff game from January 2015, where Bryant and the Cowboys lost 26-21 to the Green Bay Packers in highly controversial circumstances at Lambeau Field.

When he isn't writing about or watching football, Adam enjoys doing sports photography.

Know More

Chiefs Fans! Check out the latest Kansas City Chiefs Schedule and dive into the Chiefs Depth Chart for NFL Season 2024-25.

Edited by Nicolaas Ackermann