50 years ago, the 1969 season for the Kansas City Chiefs looked like it was on its way to being derailed when quarterback Len Dawson went down with a knee injury in the second game of the season against the Boston Patriots.
Doctors took X-rays of Dawson’s knee (they didn’t have MRIs in the 60s) but were unable to see what the problem was. Although, they feared he might have ligament damage to some degree.
Refusing to undergo season-ending knee surgery, Dawson sought a second opinion from an orthopedic surgeon who was also the team physician of the St. Louis Football Cardinals at the time, Dr. Fred Reynolds.
Dr. Reynolds theorized that the injury was just a sprain and instructed Dawson to do leg-lifting exercises and not to put any weight on it. Dawson’s rehab would keep him out for the following month and in his absence, third-string quarterback Mike Livingston became Kansas City’s starter after backup quarterback Jacky Lee went down to injury, breaking his ankle in Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Nobody knew much about Livingston at the time, other than he was some kid from Southern Mississippi University, who had taken just five snaps in his rookie season in 1968. However, Livingston took command of Kansas City’s offense and with the help of the club’s defense, he won four consecutive games, keeping the Chiefs season on track for when Dawson returned from injury on November 2, 1969, and played the next four games before getting re-injured.
Livingston started the next two games against the Denver Broncos (11/27) and Buffalo Bills (12/7) winning both games, saving the Chiefs’ season.
Dawson returned to the field just in time for the playoffs and the rest is history. The Chiefs finished with an 11-3 record and won consecutive road games in the playoffs over the Jets and Raiders to earn a bid to Super Bowl IV, where they stomped the Vikings 23-7.
But Kansas City’s incredible championship run wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Livingston holding the ship together. He finished the ‘69 season completing just over 50 percent of his passes for 1,123 yards and 4 touchdowns to 6 interceptions.
Flash forward 50 years later to today and the Chiefs find themselves in a similar situation with Patrick Mahomes out for a few weeks after suffering a dislocated knee cap last Thursday night.
The unfortunate injury to Kansas City’s star QB has given veteran backup Matt Moore, who was coaching high school football almost a year ago, his first opportunity to start since 2017 and the chance to do what Mike Livingston accomplished before him and keep the team’s championship dreams alive until Mahomes finally returns.
In Monday’s press conference, Head Coach Andy Reid said he has “full confidence” in Moore while Mahomes is absent.
Moore looked good last week against the Broncos, throwing 10-19 for 117 yards and a score but despite that, many fans are understandably wary of Moore as the starter.
However, when you look into Andy Reid’s track record and the success he’s had with his backup quarterbacks in the past and the fact that this Chiefs offense is by far the best that Moore’s ever been apart of, its enough reason to feel better about Moore as the starter for now at least.
Andy Reid’s history with backup quarterbacks
In Week 11 of the 2002 season against the Arizona Cardinals, Donovan McNabb went down with a broken fibula and missed the last six weeks of the season. In McNabb’s place backups, A.J. Feely and Koy Detmer combined for a 5-1 record to keep Philadelphia’s season together at 12-4.
McNabb returned to the Eagles just in time for the playoffs and the Eagles made a deep postseason run to the 2002 NFC Championship, where they came up short against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In 2006, the Eagles lost McNabb for the season with a torn ACL he suffered in Week 11 against the Tennessee Titans. Reid turned to backup quarterback Jeff Garcia for the remainder of the season, who finished 5-1 as a starter to propel the Eagles to a 10-6 record and a trip to the postseason.
Andy Reid is known as being a quarterback guru for a reason and that’s because he has a way of setting his guy up in the best position to succeed and it should be no different with Matt Moore as the starter. I imagine Moore shouldn’t be much better nor worse than Alex Smith. Reid will likely resort to the true west coast offense and design a game plan that will allow Moore to get the ball into the hands of Kansas City’s prolific playmakers quickly and essentially allow him to be a game-manager.
Matt Moore’s Career as a starter
To get a better look at the offenses Moore’s played for in his career, here’s a chart depicting the seasons that Moore was the starter for at least one game, along with the team(s) he played for along with that team’s record and where that team ranked on offense overall, and Moore’s seasonal record as the starter.
| YEAR | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | OVERALL RANKING ON OFFENSE | MOORE’S RECORD |
| 2007 | Panthers | 7-9 | 26th | 2-1 |
| 2009 | Panthers | 8-8 | 19th | 4-1 |
| 2010 | Panthers | 2-14 | 32nd | 1-4 |
| 2011 | Dolphins | 6-10 | 22nd | 6-6 |
| 2016 | Dolphins | 10-6 | 24th | 2-1 |
| 2017 | Dolphins | 6-10 | 25th | 0-2 |
| 2019 | Chiefs | 5-2 | 3rd | — |
The best offense Moore played with before joining the Chiefs, was back in 2009 with a 19th ranked Carolina Panthers offense that was even worse at throwing the football, ranking 29th in the league that season.
Meanwhile, the 2019 Chiefs offense ranks third in the league right now and currently reigns as the league’s best passing offense. No doubt having playmakers such as Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Mecole Hardman and LeSean McCoy will provide Moore with the weapons he needs to be successful until Mahomes returns.
