Jaylon Moore helped save the Kansas City Chiefs’ season.

Jaylon Moore? Wouldn’t that be Patrick Mahomes?

Moore, who played high school football at Detroit Consortium, made it possible for Mahomes to work his magic, hitting on 22-of-30 passes for 257 yards and three TDs without an interception Sunday night in the Chiefs’ 30-17 win over the Detroit Lions.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid inserted Moore at left tackle to protect Mahomes’ blind side after the Chiefs had 13 penalties and Mahomes was sacked three times the previous week in a 31-28 loss to Jacksonville.

The win over the Lions lifted the Chiefs’ record to 3-3, one game behind the Broncos and Chargers, both 4-2, in the AFC West.

The Chiefs signed Moore to a two-year, $30 million contract after Mahomes took a nasty beating, getting sacked a career-high 36 times last season while reaching the Super Bowl, a one-sided loss to the Eagles.

Moore played just 20 snaps this season before getting the start against the Lions, then made sure Mahomes was protected at an elite level while the Chiefs played turnover-free ball while not committing a penalty.

Mahomes had plenty of good things to say about Moore.

“I have all the faith in the world in Jaylon,” Mahomes told reporters after the game. “He came here to do what he did today, go out against one of the premier pass rushers (Aidan Hutchinson) in the league and handle his own. That speaks to the professionalism, getting better and better throughout the week and being prepared to play at any moment. He went out there and showcased the type of player that he is.”

Said Moore: “It was having my teammates have my back, that was huge for me. The biggest thing for me is earning the trust in my teammates, just to know that whenever my number is called upon I’ll be ready and there’s no need to worry.”

Moore’s high school coach, John Pittman, said Moore didn’t want to play football at Consortium, that basketball was his game.

Pittman got Moore to buy into the idea that Moore could make a living in football, a hard thing to grasp on a 20-player team at Consortium. He doubled as a linebacker and had one Division 1 offer, from Western Michigan.

Moore played for the Broncos from 2017-20, starting as a tight end before being moved to tackle. He was a fifth-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2021 NFL Draft and learned the game from future Hall of Famer Trent Williams.

Moore was on the 49ers when they lost to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl in 2023, then started five games last season, allowing one sack and nine pressures in 144 pass blocking snaps.

“I talked to him yesterday,” Pittman said on Tuesday. “I’ll probably talk to him again Thursday or Friday because I’m going to the Bills-Chiefs game November 2nd because his former teammate, Cameron Lewis, plays (defensive back) for the Bills. I’m so proud of both of them, especially coming from a high school team that only had 20, 25 players.

“I had a chance to watch Jaylon play Sunday, then watched Cameron on Monday night. Jaylon never wanted to play football and we talked him into playing football. He had one offer coming out of high school, going to Western Michigan, and he’s killing it now.

“Jaylon was pretty good in basketball, but we were like, ‘You’re 6-5 and can’t put the ball on the floor.’ He’s said, ‘Coach, I’ll take football seriously,’ and he did and he’s doing very well now. I’m proud of him.”