Travis Kelce's status for the Kansas City Chiefs' Thursday night matchup against the Denver Broncos was one to watch out for after the star tight end suffered an ankle injury against the Minnesota Vikings in their previous game. In fact, fans were grasping at straws, even using Taylor Swift's attendance status as a sign of whether or not Kelce would play. In the end, Kelce didn't just suit up; he was also the most dangerous weapon Patrick Mahomes had at the point of attack as the Chiefs took home a 19-8 victory over the Denver Broncos — their 16th straight win over the beleaguered franchise — to improve to 5-1 on the season.

Thus, after the game, Patrick Mahomes gushed over the overall impact Travis Kelce has on the Chiefs' offense and how his mere presence gives the team more freedom when it comes to playing their games. One such instance Mahomes brought up was when Kelce, in a 1st and 10 early in the first quarter, threw a lateral to Noah Gray to avoid the defenders that were set to converge on him in the middle.

“I mean, we have so much freedom with Trav that I guess all of it is called, but all of it isn't called. I know he definitely isn't supposed to pitch the ball. That's the one I know for sure. We give him freedom, he's one of those guys who can get freedom because he knows this offense like the back of his hand so he did a lot of great job,” Mahomes said in his postgame presser, via KCTV.

Despite being less than 100 percent, Travis Kelce was able to tally 124 receiving yards on nine catches, for an average of 13.78 yards per catch. More importantly, the Chiefs QB was a perfect 9/9 with Kelce as his main target, owing to the incredible connection the two have at the heart of the team's offense.

Would the Chiefs have won on Thursday even if Kelce was out due to injury? Perhaps, as the Broncos' offense was terrible and the Chiefs defense swallowed them up accordingly. But like Patrick Mahomes said, the Chiefs just go to an entirely different plane of excellence whenever the star tight end is on the field.