Dominate the Super Bowl-Chapter 1090 - 1089 Darkest Hour

Matt Moore had never received this much attention in his entire professional career, making his knees a bit shaky.

Moore was already thirty-five this year, an age close to retirement for a professional football player, especially since Moore’s career had never boasted any notable achievements. Retiring wouldn’t draw any concern—

In other words, the sooner he retired, the sooner he’d have peace of mind. No one would stop him. Naturally, no one cared.

In 2007, an undrafted rookie.

However, Moore couldn’t stage a Cinderella miracle like Kurt Warner.

After going undrafted, Moore found a job on the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad but was cut after just a year. He couldn’t even hold a spot on the practice squad, further proving it was right he went undrafted in the draft.

After wandering around, he finally found a practice squad position with the Carolina Panthers, only to unexpectedly get a chance to play, showing some skills which kept him in Charlotte for four whole seasons.

In the 2011 season, he transferred and joined the Miami Dolphins, marking the highlight of his career. He won the starting quarterback position, playing in twelve games that season, more than the number of games he played in the previous five years combined, and had a decent record of six wins and six losses.

This earned him a stable backup position with the Miami Dolphins, a seat he kept for seven years.

Until this offseason, the Miami Dolphins finally no longer needed their elderly veteran and chose to release him.

Over the past six years, Moore had only played in three games.

All as a backup, and they all ended in defeat.

He was almost in a semi-retirement state.

Despite all these years, Moore’s career highlight remains in 2011.

With such a resume, Moore found it hard to find a job, almost unemployable. He was even prepared to hang up his boots, for no one in the league cared.

However, the Kansas City Chiefs extended an olive branch.

Reed doesn’t need a young quarterback to grow slowly as a backup. Mahomes is already young enough, securing Kansas City Chiefs’ future.

Reed needed an experienced, mature, stable veteran quarterback to play the role of a backup, and Moore caught the eye of the Kansas City Chiefs—

To be precise, Moore wasn’t serving as a backup quarterback but as the second team quarterback.

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

On one hand, testing the team’s new offensive tactics, and on the other, simulating opponents’ offensive tactics.

Moore needed to study a lot of game footage and tactical manuals and demonstrate these tactics comprehensively in practice games to help the team prepare for games and refine tactics.

Be it the second team or the practice squad.

For Moore, he didn’t need to stand under the spotlight but could study the football offensive tactics he loved, from theory to practical exercises, he felt like he was shining in his new position.

Behind the Kansas City Chiefs’ seven-game winning streak this season, Moore played a part in it.

He was very satisfied with his position and quite content with his life.

Until a certain moment, when Arrowhead Stadium echoed Mahomes’ name, the coaches started looking for Moore’s figure in the crowd—

Throughout his ten-year career, Moore was always ready, always fully equipped, regardless of whether he got into the game, he always needed to do his part.

But today, just today, Moore found himself in a mess.

Helmet, where is his helmet?

Hurriedly finding his helmet, he stumbled onto the field in a daze, knowing his face must have been deathly pale even without seeing it.

The Kansas City Chiefs temporarily sent Mahomes back to the locker room to check his injuries, but the game still needed to continue, and they were now facing third gear and six yards situation.

In the headset, Reed’s tactical layout instructions came through, calm and steady—

Everyone thought the Kansas City Chiefs should play it safe now and hand the football to Li Wei, have Li Wei help the reigning champion steady themselves first, and then stabilize the situation.

But Reed, with clear thinking, went against this stereotype, using Li Wei as a decoy, implementing a fake run and real pass tactic with a quick short pass to connect with Kelsey to make progress.

As long as Kelsey completed the third gear conversion, the Kansas City Chiefs could continue to maintain the upper hand, turning the unexpected situation of Mahomes’ injury into a psychological advantage in this game.

Reed’s confidence stemmed from Lafleur’s youth and inexperience, Green Bay Packers’ inconsistent defensive group performance, and his trust in his favorites Li Wei and Kelsey.

Everything, it seemed perfect.

However, Reed overlooked one detail—

He thought Moore, having been around the league for eleven years, with backup experience and composure, wouldn’t be fazed by being called into action suddenly and could quickly get into the state.

But he ignored that Moore had already settled into a semi-retirement relaxed mindset. Suddenly being thrust to the forefront, Moore’s mentality couldn’t hold together.

"Interception!"

"Oh, God, Matt Moore is obviously disoriented and lost, this pass was too outrageous, directly into the arms of the Green Bay Packers’ defensive player, he might have mistakenly taken the cornerback for Kelsey."

"This is just... terrible."

"Luckily, Kelsey reacted in time, making a tackle immediately, not giving the opponent a chance to return, minimizing the loss."

"But... the situation is now unfavorable."

"With Mahomes injured and having left the field, situation unclear, the Kansas City Chiefs have given up possession, putting the home team in a worse predicament."

"Initially, Li Wei was a decoy, and with Kelsey completing a crossover cover breakup, Kelsey was wide open, it was a straightforward short pass opportunity, but the Kansas City Chiefs wasted it, now leaving the opportunity to the opponent."

"Rodgers won’t miss it."

Moore watched the football enter the opponent cornerback’s arms, his heart sinking, finally snapping out of his semi-dreamlike haze, desperately clutching his helmet, cutting off his breath sharply.

This... actually...

The worst, most terrifying nightmare came true just like that.

Moore wasn’t a rookie; he knew what this error meant; and precisely because he was acutely aware of these psychological games, the pressure and pain washed over Moore fully.

"Hey, Matt."

A voice came, prompting Moore to look reflexively.

It was Li Wei.

"Sherlock also threw an interception. It’s okay, it’s okay, the game has just started, we still have a chance to turn things around."

Ha.

Not just Li Wei, Kelsey and others were amused by this jest.

Moore relaxed slightly.

Li Wei patted Moore on the shoulder, "What we need now is not dwelling on the past, but focusing on the present, the opportunity is still in our hands, it’s the same for both sides."

Moore’s tense mental string loosened slightly again, finally finding back his smile.

However, the crisis was just beginning.

For the Kansas City Chiefs, the toughest and most challenging test of the season had officially arrived, things were far from simple, and a few motivational words weren’t enough to fix the problem.

This chapt𝙚r is updated by fr(e)ew𝒆bnov(e)l.com