You belong with me: Most interesting aspect of DeAndre Hopkins in Chiefs uniform

With Taylor Swift watching from her familiar perch on the 50-yard line — between her mom and Mama Kelce — Patrick Mahomes sang his best version of You Belong with Me to his newest Chiefs teammate, DeAndre Hopkins. The quarterback’s pitch gets better each week. So does Taylor’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce.

Mahomes officially launched his relationship with Hopkins last week, but in Monday night’s 30-24 overtime win over Tampa Bay, there were second-date sparks – to the tune of eight catches for 86 yards and the veteran’s first two touchdown catches in a Chiefs uniform, including a go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.

“He’s so good at winning one-on-one,” Mahomes said after passing for 291 yards and three touchdowns in his first 2024 game without an interception. “And so to be able to have him down in the red zone, third-down situations, he does a good job of filling out and finding those windows kind of like Travis does. I think as he figures out the whole entire offense he’ll get even better, because there’s some times he’s going places and I’m like, ‘Man, there’s a time and a place for that,’ but that’s what makes him great.”

But that’s not even half the lyrics. Consider how the late-October arrival of Hopkins has improved Kelce’s production. Without Hopkins in Weeks 1-7, Kelce averaged just 4.0 catches and 35.0 yards per game – and endured the longest stretch of his time with Mahomes without a touchdown reception.

However, with Hopkins over Weeks 8-9, Kelce is averaging 12.0 catches and 95.0 yards. He broke the touchdown streak in last week’s win, his first game with Hopkins, then established a single-game career best with 14 catches for 100 yards in Monday’s win. And playing without gloves for the first time anyone could remember, he still made acrobatic receptions.

That was bad news for the Bucs (4-5), which might’ve handed the Chiefs their first loss had Tampa Bay gone for two. Plus, the rest of the NFL may have lost its collective best opportunity to beat Kansas City. The Chiefs padded their franchise-long winning streak and look to extend it to 15 against Denver (5-4) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS). Kansas City hasn’t lost a game since Christmas Day 2023.