Travis Kelce is finally enjoying a successful and record-breaking game

Travis Kelce lets his game speak for itself.

A few days after facing increasing criticism for his slow start to this NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs star responded with a game-changing performance, catching seven in the team's win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, September 29 Passes for 89 yards.

Kelce also made franchise history by becoming the Chiefs' all-time leader in receptions (917) after his second catch of the day early in the game – surpassing Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez.

In the final three games of the season, the tight end had thrown a total of eight balls for 69 yards, causing critics and even fans to question his play so far.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid had an answer as to why Kelce was being targeted more often by quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

“They played quite a bit of zone and Kelce did a good job of getting in the windows,” Reid told reporters after the game. “And then when they played, he did a good job there. There weren’t as many double teams as he’s ever seen, so he performed very well.”

Kelce also addressed the issue during the media availability on Friday, September 27th.

Never miss a story again — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“Every year is different, you know? I think with the resources we have, teams play us a little differently than last year and they play Patrick (Mahomes) differently than last year,” he said: “I think you see teams that start out Playing a little softer and getting us to drive all the way down instead of – and just taking away the big throws, and I think Pat's just doing a great job. “Ball in everyone's hands.”

Before the game, the tight end received a confidence boost from his own teammates when wide receivers Rashee Rice, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman Jr. wore custom Kelce T-shirts with the player's name and picture on the front and the word ” Dreamathon” on the back.

earlier this month on his New heights In the podcast, Travis gave some insight into his take on the topic.

The Chiefs star explained that “a lot of things” have to “go right” to get the ball in an NFL game and that it just hasn't happened between him and Mahomes yet.

“For some reason things haven’t been going my way the last two games and that’s football, man. I’m not going to sit here and be frustrated about it,” Kelce said.