In the season opener on Thursday night against the Detroit Lions, the Kansas City Chiefs relied on their receiving corps to fill the void left by star tight end Travis Kelce, who was sidelined due to a knee injury.

However, the Chiefs' wide receivers, especially Kadarius Toney, fell far short of filling that gap.

Toney's performance was abysmal as the reigning Super Bowl champions suffered a 21-20 defeat against the Lions at Arrowhead Stadium. Despite being traded to the Chiefs midway through the previous season, Toney managed to secure just one reception out of five targets, accumulating a mere one yard.

To make matters worse, the dropped pass occurred on a crucial third down situation, and had Toney successfully made the catch, it would have resulted in a first down for the Chiefs.

“Kadarius Toney dropped the ball for a pick-6 earlier and now drops a 1st down pass on 3rd down.”-NFL_DovKleiman

“Maybe Kadarius Toney should focus a little more on catching the football as opposed to DM’ing Giants fans to argue with them.” -TheDougRush

Furthermore, he played a role in the Lions tying the score early in the third quarter by mishandling a straightforward pass from Patrick Mahomes, resulting in the ball bouncing off his hands and landing in the grasp of Brian Branch, who subsequently ran it back for a 50-yard touchdown. Toney also contributed to Kansas City's final drive of the game starting with a dropped pass.

Toney didn't escape criticism for his dismal performance, as social media mercilessly voiced their opinions about it.

“Kadarius Toney gonna be in a Siberian Gulag by tomorrow night” -BrettKollmann

Chiefs offense right now is like a jam band giving all 15 musicians on stage an extended solo. The tambourine? Sure! Harmonica man? You're next!” -minakimes

Following a short stint with the Giants, who drafted Toney 20th overall in the 2021 NFL draft, Toney appeared to find his footing within the Chiefs' offensive scheme. He even managed to secure a touchdown reception during Kansas City's Super Bowl victory against the Philadelphia Eagles.