Chiefs: Dave Toub comments on one players complete 180 of a season
The Kansas City Chiefs struggled on punt return all season when they usually don't. In the past, they had Pro Bowl returners in Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman, and they almost never had hiccups in the return game. This year they have had far more than they would have liked. It started with rookie Skyy […]
The Kansas City Chiefs struggled on punt return all season when they usually don't. In the past, they had Pro Bowl returners in Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman, and they almost never had hiccups in the return game.
This year they have had far more than they would have liked. It started with rookie Skyy Moore fielding punts, who is a guy that had never done it in college even. He gets to the pros, and they have him returning punts.
It didn't go well, to say the least. Moore had three fumbles lost on punt return, and luckily it only cost them one loss to the Colts. He was taken off punt return and his confidence was shot.
Then, he comes in the AFC Championship and does what no one expected, and had maybe the biggest play of the game.
“It was so good to see redemption for him," special teams coordinator Dave Toub said on Moore. "He works so hard. After we put him on the bench, he didn’t give up. He just kept coming to practice and working on his catching and I told him just the other day – maybe a week and a half before that game – I said, ‘Man, you are doing great here in practice.’
"And his confidence was getting better and better and when we needed him the most, he stepped it up and did a great job for us. I couldn’t be more happy for the kid and I couldn’t be more happy for the group. The guys who have been working hard – the other 10 guys out there on the field that have been working and blocking things up and doing it all year and we finally got some payback.”
The Chiefs needed Moore, as Kadarius Toney, and Mecole Hardman both left the game early, and then Justin Watson was sick before the game and didn't play. JuJu Smith-Schuster, who doesn't have a ton of return history, also left the game early, so Moore had no choice but to step in.
He made plays all day long, but none really bigger than that punt return that got them even closer to field goal range.
Had Moore called for a fair catch on that play, I can't say that Mahomes drives the team even further with the amount of time he had, even with the 15 extra penalty yards against the Bengals.
The rookies all stepped up and made huge plays, but Moore's play was pretty big too.
Featured Image Via Kareem Elgazzar / The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
