Williams credits Moore with helping start career
Matt Moore and Chad Henne have spent the season doing what backup quarterbacks typically do.
Moore filled in a pinch for a couple games in the middle of the season when Patrick Mahomes went down with an injury, keeping the Kansas City Chiefs in range to earn a firstround bye in the NFL playoffs. Henne and Moore have both helped out on the scout team, replicating whichever quarterback the Chiefs had to prepare for on a given week.
Moore, at least, can also take credit for some of Kansas City’s success in the running game, though. Damien Williams has ascended to become the Chiefs’ top running back heading into Super Bowl
54, and he said Moore deserves some credit from their days together with the Dolphins.
“I was an undrafted free agent,” Williams said, recalling his rookie year in 2014. “I feel like going into the preseason, he was my quarterback and he found me a lot as far as just in those games, so I feel like he plays a big role in why I got to stay in Miami and why I’m where I am now. He doesn’t know that.”
Williams, who played for the Dolphins from 2014 to 2017, has started both of Kansas City’s playoff games and will likely get the nod Sunday when the Chiefs face the San Francisco 49ers at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. He has gotten stronger as the season has gone on, too, and four of his highest single-game rushing totals have come in Kansas City’s past four games.
This is the best season of his career, and Williams owes it to the Dolphins’ willingness to keep him on the roster for four consecutive seasons in the early days of his career despite sporadic playing time.
This week, Henne and Moore are doing the more traditional job of a backup quarterback, though. The two quarterbacks are spending the week emulating Jimmy Garoppolo.
Although the 49ers quarterback didn’t need to do much in the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 19, the Chiefs know he has the talent to make plays when he’s called upon.
“Chad and Matt both do a nice job of simulating that team that they’re playing, coach Andy Reid said. “They spend a lot of time trying to do exactly what [defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo] wants them to do and all the other position coaches. If there’s a certain look they want, they’re going to give it to them.”
CHIEFS THRIVE IN SECOND QUARTER
It was never more evident than in the AFC Divisional Playoffs on Jan. 12: Kansas City owns the second quarter.
The Houston Texans charged out to a 21-point lead in the first quarter, and the lead grew to 24 before five minutes were gone in the second quarter, then the Chiefs turned superhuman. Kansas City finished the quarter on a 28-0 run to take a fourpoint lead into halftime after another otherworldly second period.
“I think it’s kind of we figure out their game plan,” rookie wide receiver Mecole Hardman said. “We figure out what they’re going to give us, what they’re going to throw us, and we kind of go out there and execute at a later time. But I don’t think we should be starting late like that, especially not with this team because they’re so good offensively, as well. We want to come out good, start off hot and try to start right away instead of waiting for the second quarter to be on.”
The Chiefs finished the regular season averaging 11.1 points per game in the second quarter — the most in the NFL — and have been even better in the postseason. Kansas City followed up its 28-point quarter against the Texans with a 14-point quarter against the Tennessee Titans on Jan. 19 in the AFC Championship Game to push its average, including the playoffs, up to 12.2 points.
This usually follows a pedestrian first quarter — the Chiefs are 10th in the league averaging 5.4 points per game in the first — and Kansas City can usually put the game out of reach at some point in the third quarter, when they average 6.4 points. The Chiefs are actually only 18th in the league in fourth-quarter scoring at 5.8 points per game.
Be cautious counting out Kansas City if it falls into an early hole. The Chiefs might have San Francisco right where they want it.
“You can see it in our play,” Williams said. “You can see it in every single player — as far as from our kicker to our punter, from the line — you can see everybody’s energy kind of just rise. I don’t know. I feel like we like to play with our backs against the wall. I feel like we might need to get punched one time to wake up.”
David Wilson: 305-376-3406, @DBWilson2