Getty Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The Kansas City Chiefs offense sputtered out many times during the team’s 21-20 loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 1.
Most of the blame for the poor offensive outing can be put on the wide receivers. That unit accounted for four dropped passes and one tipped pass that resulted in a pick-six for Detroit.
The four drops were the team’s third-most drops in a single game since 2012, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Among the players receiving the most backlash for his performance in Week 1 is receiver Kadarius Toney, who had several drops and caused the pick-six to happen due to a tipped pass by him. He finished the night having caught 1-of-5 targets for 1 yard and had 1 rushing attempt for -1 yard on 16 total offensive snaps played.
After the game, Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes defended Toney and made it clear he still has trust in the third-year wideout.
“Yeah, I have trust in KT (Kadarius Toney,” Mahomes said during his postgame press conference via Charles Goldman of A to Z Sports. “He missed a lot of training camp… Stuff didn’t go his way… I’m sure those drops will disappear.”
On 3rd & 6, QB Patrick Mahomes throws a pass that goes through the hands of WR Kadarius Toney & is intercepted by rookie S Brian Branch for a pick-six. PAT is good.
Chiefs Couldn’t Find Consistency on Offense
In a game in which the defending Super Bowl champions were without star tight end Travis Kelce (hyperextended knee), the Chiefs offense looked like it was devoid of talent in the regular season opener.
Patrick Mahomes led the team in rushing yards with 45. Running back Isiah Pacheco led the team in catches with 4, and receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling was the receiving yardage leader with 48.
Despite having not played at all during the preseason due to surgery on his torn meniscus, Kansas City deployed Kadarius Toney in what appeared to be a normal role for him, which was odd considering how little he had played over the last month. And lo and behold — Toney looked rusty on the field Thursday night.
But Toney’s performance was nevertheless frustrating despite his circumstances. After suffering yet another setback due to injury this summer, Toney had to hit the ground running during the regular season if he wanted to regain the trust of Chiefs Kingdom.
He didn’t do that, and fans are quickly losing faith in Toney as a result.
Twitter Reacts to Kadarius Toney’s Poor Outing
Users on Twitter — which was recently rebranded to “X” — reacted to Kadarius Toney’s poor performance in Week 1.
“I can’t recall a game where one WR hurt the team more than Toney did tonight,” Chiefs analyst Seth Keysor wrote. “Drops killed 3 drives minimum, one of which led to a pick six. Just a catastrophic outing.”
I can’t recall a game where one WR hurt the team more than Toney did tonight.
Drops killed 3 drives minimum, one of which led to a pick six. Just a catastrophic outing.
“Kadarius Toney finishing with one receiving yard, negative one rushing yards, four drops, and one of those drops leading to a pick-6 in a game KC lost by 1 point legit might go down as the worst performance any skill player has all season,” Danny Heifetz if The Ringer wrote.
Kadarius Toney finishing with one receiving yard, negative one rushing yards, four drops, and one of those drops leading to a pick-6 in a game KC lost by 1 point legit might go down as the worst performance any skill player has all season.
“Everyone arguing all offseason about whether Kadarius Toney or Skyy Moore would be the new #1 WR in KC and they combine for 1 yard and about 82 drops,” Sam Monson of PFF wrote.
Everyone arguing all offseason about whether Kadarius Toney or Skyy Moore would be the new #1 WR in KC and they combine for 1 yard and about 82 drops.
“Butterfinger has a prime opportunity to make Kadarius Toney their official spokesperson,” another user wrote.
Butterfinger has a prime opportunity to make Kadarius Toney their official spokesperson.
“Maybe Kadarius Toney should focus a little more on catching the football as opposed to DM’ing Giants fans to argue with them,” another user wrote.
Maybe Kadarius Toney should focus a little more on catching the football as opposed to DM’ing Giants fans to argue with them.