Chapter 1090 Darkest Hour
Matt Moore has never received so much attention and spotlight in his entire career, and it makes his knees weak.

Moore is already 35 years old this year, which is an age close to retirement for a professional football player. Moreover, Moore has never had any resume in his career, so his retirement will not attract any attention.

In other words, retire early and feel at ease, no one will try to keep you, and naturally no one will care.

In 2007, he was not selected as a rookie.

However, Moore was not able to perform the Cinderella miracle like Kurt Warner.

After being eliminated, Moore found a job in the Dallas Cowboys’ sparring team, but was laid off after only one year. He couldn’t even stay in the sparring team, which further proved that it was right for him to be eliminated in the draft.

After going around in circles, he finally found a job as a sparring partner for the Carolina Panthers, but by chance he got a chance to play and performed well, which allowed him to stay in Charlotte for four full seasons.

In the 2011 season, Moore joined the Miami Dolphins and had the highlight of his career. He won the starting quarterback position and played in twelve games that season, which was more than the total number of games he had played in the previous five years. And the record was not bad, with six wins and six losses.

This gave Moore a stable backup position in the Miami Dolphins, and he stayed there for seven years.

It wasn’t until this offseason that the Miami Dolphins finally no longer needed the aging veteran and chose to lay him off.

Moore has played in just three games in the past six years.

All of them came on as substitutes, and all of them ended in losses.

Almost semi-retired.

After all these years, the year that is still worth mentioning in Moore’s career is 2011.

Such a resume makes it difficult for Moore to find a job. He can hardly find a job. He is even ready to hang up his boots since no one in the league cares about him anyway.

However, the Kansas City Chiefs extended an olive branch.

Reid doesn’t need a young quarterback to grow slowly as a backup. Mahomes is young enough and the future of the Kansas City Chiefs is secure.

Reid needs an experienced, mature, stable and patient veteran quarterback to play a backup role, and Moore entered the Kansas Chiefs’ sight.

To be precise, Moore is not the backup quarterback, but the second-team quarterback.

Since joining the team during the offseason, Moore has been leading the second team in tactical drills.

On the one hand, it tests the team’s new offensive tactics, and on the other hand, it simulates and drills the offensive tactics of its competitors.

Moore needs to study a lot of game videos and tactical manuals, and try to demonstrate these tactics in all aspects of practice as much as possible to help the team prepare for the game and improve tactics.

Whether it’s the second team or a sparring partner.

For Moore, he doesn’t need to stand under the spotlight, but can still study the offensive tactics of football that he loves. From paper discussion to sandbox drills, he feels that he is shining in a brand new position.

Moore played a role in the Kansas City Chiefs’ seven-game winning streak this season.

He is very satisfied with his position and very content with his life.

Until one moment, when the entire Arrowhead Stadium cheered Mahomes’ name, the coaching staff was looking for Moore in the crowd.

Over the past ten years of his professional career, Moore has always been prepared and well-equipped, and he always needs to do his role well, whether he is on the court or not.

But today, of course, Moore was in a state of panic.

Helmet, where is his helmet?

He hurriedly found his helmet and stumbled onto the court in a daze. Although Moore couldn’t see his own expression, he knew that his face must be frighteningly pale.

The Kansas City Chiefs temporarily sent Mahomes back to the lounge to check his injury, but the game still needed to go on, and they were now facing a third-and-6 situation.

Reed’s tactical layout instructions came from the headset, calm and steady.

Everyone thought that the Kansas City Chiefs should choose to be conservative and hand the football to Levi, who would help the defending champions gain a foothold and stabilize the current situation first. But Reed had a clear mind and went against the trend to seize this stereotype, using Levi as bait, using fake run and real pass tactics with quick short passes to connect with Kelce and complete the advancement.

As long as Kelce completes the third-gear conversion, the Kansas City Chiefs will be able to continue to take the initiative and turn Mahomes’ unexpected injury into an opportunity for the Kansas City Chiefs to establish a psychological advantage in this game.

Reid’s confidence comes from, firstly, LaFleur’s youth and inexperience, secondly, the Green Bay Packers’ defensive unit with fluctuating performances, and thirdly, his trust in his two favorite players, Levi and Kelce.

Everything is perfect.

However, Reed missed one detail.

He believes that Moore has been in the league for eleven years, has experience and demeanor as a substitute, has seen many ups and downs, and can quickly get into the game when given a mission in times of crisis.

But he overlooked that Moore had entered a stable psychological state of semi-retirement. Suddenly he was pushed to the front line, and Moore’s mentality was not tense at all.

“Intercept!”

“Oh my god, Matt Moore was clearly disoriented and lost, and this pass was so off the mark that it went right into the arms of the Green Bay Packers defender, who may have mistaken the cornerback for Kelce.”

“This is… just too bad.”

“Fortunately, Kelsey reacted in time and tackled the opponent immediately, without giving the opponent a chance to attack back, thus recovering the loss.”

“But… the situation is not good now.”

“Mahomes was injured and left the field. The situation is unclear, but the Kansas City Chiefs gave up the ball, which put the home team in a worse predicament.”

“Originally, Levi was the bait, and he and Kelce completed a cross-screen break. Kelce was already open, and it was a simple short pass. However, the Kansas Chiefs missed the opportunity and now gave it to the opponent.”

“Rogers, I won’t miss it.”

Moore watched the football go into the arms of the opponent’s cornerback. His heart sank and he finally woke up from his half-asleep chaos in an instant. He hugged his helmet in despair and suddenly cut off his breath.

This…actually…

The worst, most terrifying and most worrying thing in the nightmare actually happened.

Moore is not a rookie, he knows what this mistake means; and it is precisely because he knows these psychological games clearly that the pressure and pain completely overwhelmed Moore.

“Hey, Matt.”

A voice came, and Moore looked over reflexively.

It’s Levi.

“Sherlock also made a pass and interception. It’s okay. The game has just started and we still have a chance to turn the situation around.”

Haha.

Not only Levi, but Kelsey and the others were amused by this teasing.

Moore relaxed a little.

Levi patted Moore on the shoulder and said, “What we need now is not to look ahead or behind, but to focus on the present. The opportunity is still in our hands, and it is the same for both sides.”

Moore’s tense nerves relaxed a little again, and he finally managed to smile again.

However, the crisis has just begun.

For the Kansas City Chiefs, the toughest and most difficult test of the season has officially arrived. Things are far from simple, and a few words of inspiration are not enough to solve the problem.

(End of this chapter)