Chapter 1090 The Darkest Hour
Matt Moore has never received so much attention and attention in his entire career, and it makes his knees weak.
Moore is thirty-five years old this year. For professional football players, this is an age approaching retirement. What's more, Moore has never had a resume to speak of in his career, and his retirement will not arouse any concern——
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In other words, retire early and have peace of mind, and no one will keep you. Of course no one cares.
In 2007, he was an undrafted rookie.
However, Moore failed to perform the Cinderella miracle like Kurt Warner.
After losing the draft, Moore found a job in the Dallas Cowboys training staff, but he was laid off after only one year and could not even stay in the coaching staff. This further proved that he was right to lose the draft.
After going around in circles, he finally found a job as a sparring partner with the Carolina Panthers, but by some strange combination of circumstances, he got a chance to play and produce something, which allowed him to stay in Charlotte for the entirety of his stay. for four seasons.
In the 2011 season, Moore moved to the Miami Dolphins and ushered in the highlight of his career. He won the starting quarterback position and played in twelve games in the season, which was more games than he had played in the previous five years combined; And the record is not bad, six wins and six losses.
This gave Moore a stable backup position in the Miami Dolphins, where he sat for seven years.
Until this offseason, the Miami Dolphins finally no longer needed the aging veteran and chose to lay off players.
Moore has played in just three games in the past six years.
All came off the bench, and all ended in losses.
Almost semi-retired.
After all these years, 2011 is still worth mentioning in Moore's career.
With such a resume, it is difficult for Moore to find a job and he can hardly find a job. He is even ready to hang up his boots. 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 slowly grow as a backup. Mahomes is young enough and the future of the Kansas City Chiefs is secure.
Reid needs an experienced, mature, stable and durable veteran quarterback to play a back-up role, and Moore enters the Kansas Chiefs' sights——
To be precise, Moore is not serving as a backup quarterback, but as a second-team quarterback.
Since joining in 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 practices competitors' offensive tactics.
Moore needs to study a lot of game videos and tactical manuals, and try his best to demonstrate these tactics in practice matches to help the team prepare for the game and improve tactics.
Whether it's the second team or a sparring partner.
For Moore, he does not need to stand in the spotlight, but he can study the offensive tactics of football that he loves. From paper talks to sand table exercises, he feels that he is shining in a new position.
Behind the Kansas Chiefs' seven-game winning streak this season, Moore has contributed a lot.
He is very satisfied with his position and his life.
Until a certain moment, when the entire crowd at Arrowhead Stadium raised their arms and chanted Mahomes' name, the coaching staff was looking for Moore in the crowd——
In the ten years since his career, Moore has always been prepared and equipped. Whether he is on the court or not, he always needs to play his role well.
But today, today, Moore was in a hurry.
Helmet, where's his helmet?
He hurriedly found the helmet and stumbled onto the field in a daze. Although Moore couldn't see his expression, he knew that his face must be frighteningly pale.
The Kansas Chiefs temporarily sent Mahomes back to the dugout to check the injury, but the game still needs to continue, and they now face a third-down, six-yard situation.
Reed's tactical layout instructions came from the earphones, calm and composed——
Everyone thinks that the Kansas Chiefs should choose to be conservative now, hand the football to Levi, and let Levi help the defending champion gain a foothold and stabilize the current situation first. But Reed had a clear idea and went against the grain to seize this stereotype, using Levi as a bait, using fake running and real passing tactics with quick short passes to connect with Kelsey to complete the advance.
As long as Kelsey completes the third gear transition, the Kansas City Chiefs can continue to take the initiative, and instead turn Mahomes' unexpected injury into an opportunity for the Kansas City Chiefs to establish a psychological advantage in this game.
Reed's confidence comes first from LaFleur's youth and lack of experience, second from the Green Bay Packers' ups and downs on defense, and third from his trust in Levi and Kelce.
Everything is perfect.
However, Reed left out one detail -
He believes that Moore has been in the league for eleven years, has experience and demeanor as a substitute, is used to big winds and waves, and can quickly get into shape when called upon in times of crisis.
But he ignored that Moore had already entered a stable state of mind in semi-retirement. Suddenly being pushed to the front line, Moore's mentality did not calm down at all.
"Copy!"
"Oh my God, Matt Moore was obviously confused and the pass was so outrageous that it went straight into the arms of the Green Bay Packers defender, who probably mistook the cornerback for Kelce. ”
"This is simply...too bad."
"Fortunately among the misfortunes, Kelsey reacted in time and completed the tackle immediately without giving his opponent a chance to attack back, thus saving the loss."
"But... the situation is not good now."
"Mahomes left the game injured and the situation was unknown, but the Kansas Chiefs gave up the ball, which put the home team into a worse predicament."
"Originally, Levi was used as a decoy and completed a cross-change screen roll with Kelsey. Kelsey's gap was already available. This was a simple short pass. However, the Kansas Chiefs missed the opportunity. Now give the opportunity to your opponent.”
"Rogers, can't miss it."
Moore watched helplessly as the football entered the arms of the opponent's cornerback. His heart sank. In an instant, he finally woke up from the chaos of being half asleep. He hugged his helmet in despair and suddenly cut off his breath.
This... actually...
The worst, scariest and most worrying thing in my nightmare actually happened like this.
Moore is not a newbie, he knows what this mistake means; it is precisely because he clearly knows these psychological games that the pressure and pain completely overwhelmed Moore.
"Hey, Matt."
A voice came, and Moore looked over reflexively.
It's Levi.
"Sherlock also passed the interception. It's okay. The game has just started. We still have a chance to turn the situation around."
Ha ha.
Not only Levi, but Kelsey and the others were amused by this joke.
Moore relaxed a little.
Levi patted Moore on the shoulder, "What we need now is not to look forward and backward, but to focus on the present. The opportunity is still in our hands, and it is the same for both parties."
Moore's tense heartstrings relaxed a little again, and finally found his smile.
However, the crisis has just begun.
For the Kansas Chiefs, the toughest and most difficult test of the season has officially arrived. Things are far from simple. One or two words of chicken soup for the soul are not enough to solve the problem.
(End of chapter)