Jaylon Moore welcomed his third child, a girl they named Selah, early Sunday morning. The Chiefs swing tackle had no idea he would be in the starting lineup only a few hours later.
Rookie left tackle Josh Simmons left the team hours before kickoff to return to his hometown of San Diego for personal reasons.
Moore allowed three pressures and a sack in 40 pass-blocking snaps, per Nate Taylor of ESPN, protecting Patrick Mahomes' blindside against Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson.
"I have all the faith in the world in Jaylon," Mahomes said after the game, via Taylor. "He came here to do what he did today, go out and be up against one of the premier pass rushers in the league and handle his own. That speaks to his professionalism, getting better and better through work throughout the week and being prepared to play at any moment. He went out there and showcased the type of player that he is."
The Chiefs have had a carousel of left tackles in recent seasons and played four last season with Kingsley Suamataia, Wanya Morris, D.J. Humphries and Joe Thuney all playing there. Mahomes was sacked a career-high six times in Super Bowl LIX.
The Chiefs went into the offseason vowing to shore up the position, and they did.
Moore, 27, signed a two-year, $30 million deal with the Chiefs in free agency only to be supplanted by Simmons a month later when they drafted the Ohio State offensive tackle in the first round. Moore spent most of training camp splitting snaps at left guard, right guard and right tackle.
He got it done at left tackle on Sunday, which was a big deal for the Chiefs.
"It was big having my teammates have my back. That was huge for me," Moore said. "The biggest thing for me is earning the trust of my teammates, just to know that whenever my number is called upon I'll be ready and there's no need to worry."