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Not for the first time in recent times, the Kansas City Chiefs ground out a vital win. Not for the first time, however, the night's enduring image was one of fire and fury. Of Travis Kelce and Andy Reid at each other's throats.
On Sunday in New York, midway through the Chiefs' 22-9 triumph over the Giants, coach and tight end became embroiled in a furious sideline argument.
Tensions boiled over after Kelce failed to catch a pass from Patrick Mahomes. 'Tell me why I shouldn't kick you off!' Reid shouted, according to lip reader Nicola Hickling. He then bumped into Kelce's chest and asked: 'How about that?'
The confrontation evoked memories of 18 months ago, at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, when the world watch Kelce bump into Reid and scream in his coach's face.
That day, the Chiefs recovered to secure a second-straight championship. This argument did no harm, either, despite Kelce admitting his behavior was 'unacceptable', and his brother telling him publicly that he had 'crossed the line'.
But, with Reid and Kelce in their 13th season together now, their relationship is under the spotlight once more. They headed to New York in unfamiliar waters: 0-2 for the season and with an offense stuttering.
Andy Reid threatened to kick Travis Kelce off his Kansas City Chiefs team on Sunday night
Kelce, who had just failed to take a catch, clashed with his coach during a game at the Giants
Kelce has faced questions over his performances for some time and his relationship with fiancee Taylor Swift has dominated this final chapter in the NFL. After deciding not to retire earlier this year, Kelce described winning another Super Bowl as 'the only goal... every goal.'
And an insider insists his blowups are rooted in nothing more than competitive spirit and a 'love' for Coach Reid.
'Travis doesn't have much more football in him,' the source told the Daily Mail. 'And he wants the rest of his career to have the same success as over recent years.
'So, as this season has been a little difficult on the field and with the team's performance the way it has been, the way he acts toward Andy in public is as serious as it looks but also a little bit of a show... to show his teammates that he means business.
'He knows the cameras are on him, this has happened before, and he needs to provide a spark for himself and his team because he wants to win, and he will continue to do this if it provides results.
'Travis and Andy are fine, they have a father-son relationship, and the arguments are out of love, not anything that is going to lead to any issues.'
Reid also shrugged off the meltdown - just as he did in Vegas in February 2024. 'Don't make too much of it,' the 67-year-old said. 'He’s a passionate guy... I love that he loves to play the game.
Reid added: 'I love Travis’s passion, so I’m OK with that. We didn’t have enough of it in the second quarter, we weren’t where we needed to be.
It is not the first time Kelce and Reid have become embroiled in a furious sideline showdown
Taylor Swift and Kelce recently announced their engagement after a secret proposal
'He knows when to back off the pedal and he knows when to push it too. That’s part of what I love about him. The guy's all-in. Just sometimes I have to be the policeman.'
As Reid explained: 'I’ve been through a lot of things with him.' Kelce put it even more starkly earlier this year. 'I owe everything to that man,' he said.
'He’s like a father figure to me. He’s like one of my uncles growing up that I respect so much because of who he is.'
The 35-year-old added: 'Where I was at Cincinnati and where I am now, I have nothing but respect for Coach Reid and how he's helped me.'
Kelce has developed into arguably the greatest tight end in NFL history. But back at college, with the Cincinnati Bearcats, he lived like a 'goofball' and a 'degenerate'. In 2010, he was kicked off the team over a failed drugs test.
A few years later, while preparing for the NFL Draft, Kelce received a call from Reid. The coach had already drafted Jason to the Eagles in 2011. Now he was considering bringing Travis to Kansas City. First, though, he reprimanded the tight end.
As Kelce later recalled, Reid all-but said: 'Are you going to screw this up? I need a mature guy. I don’t need a guy who’s going to come in and be silly.'
Jason only worked with Reid for a couple of seasons but he credits the coach and his family with 'playing such an incredible part of me and my brother being able to play at this level'.
The 67-year-old coach considers himself part of the Kelce family and has described Travis as 'like one of my kids.' 'There’s nobody I get better than I get him,' Reid has said. It's a comment that carries particular poignancy given all the Chiefs coach has endured.
Reid and his wife Tammy have been married for more than four decades. They have five children Britt, Garrett, Spencer, Drew Ann and Crosby.
Kelce has admitted that he lived like a degenerate in his college days at Cincinnati University
Travis and his brother Jason shared a bedroom after the younger Kelce was kicked off the team
Back in 2012, Garrett died of an accidental heroin overdose, while Britt has spent time in prison over a drunk-driving incident that left a girl with serious brain injuries.
'For Travis, Coach Reid has almost been like that uncle you have that you listen to and get advice from,' quarterback Mahomes previously said.
'He makes Travis a great football player but I think even a better person. He has a good feel for getting on Travis when he needs that motivation, but at the same time he lets Travis be who he is.'
Kelce has vowed never to play for another coach. But they almost came to blows before ever working together. When Reid watched Kelce play at college, the tight end reportedly addressed the veteran coach as 'big fella'.
'Deep down, I'm going, "If I get my hands on that son of a buck, I'm going to rip his heart out,"' Reid once recalled. 'Cocky, cocky, damn, he was cocky. But I knew the roots.'
Jason managed to persuade Reid that Travis had more than bravado. '(He) convinced me that he was going to be OK,' the coach recalled. 'And if he wasn’t, he was going to beat him up.'
Through one-on-one meetings and through 'challenging' him 'every single day' the coach helped tease bad habits out of Travis.
'I was late to meetings, hanging out too much throughout the week, not necessarily focusing,' Kelce previously revealed.
'Now, football is the only place in my life where I'm really detailed, really professional... I'm dialed in. I can lock in, really compartmentalize. That's because of Coach Reid.'
Over the past decade, the tight end and head coach have formed a father-son-like bond
The Chiefs star pondered leaving the NFL after suffering humiliation at Super Bowl LIX
During that call in 2013, it's said, Kelce attempted to reassure Reid by promising to work towards becoming the coach's best ever tight end. More than a decade on, that promise has been fulfilled.
This is expected to be Kelce's last dance. Back in February, the Chiefs lost the Super Bowl to the Philadelphia Eagles. Kelce endured a dreadful game at the end of a difficult season - his worst by many metrics. And he pondered whether to retire.
Mahomes never broached the subject with his tight end. Nor did Kelce's father. 'I kept my mouth shut,' Ed Kelce recently told the Daily Mail.
It reportedly took Kelce a week to decide to carry on. And the first person he told? Not his father, or his brother and 'best friend,' Jason. Not Mahomes, the quarterback with whom he has won three Super Bowls. But Reid.
