It's the most wonderful time of the year. The 2023 NFL season kicked off on Thursday night, and everyone was celebrating except for the Chiefs' wide receivers, especially former NY Giants first-rounder Kadarius Toney. Straight up, he did not perform well during Kansas City's 21-20 loss to the Lions.
The defending champions were without star tight end Travis Kelce, who hyperextended his knee earlier in the week. This meant that two-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes would have to rely on other options in the passing game, including third-year wideout Toney.
While the Chiefs kept it close, the former 2021 first-round draft pick by the G-Men had the worst game of his young career. Toney was targeted five times and finished with one reception for one yard. He also had three dropped passes, including a turnover off his hands, which resulted in a pick-six to tie the game by Lions rookie safety Brian Branch.
PATRICK MAHOMES PICK-SIX 🚨
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 8, 2023
Lions tie it up 👀
(via @NFL)
pic.twitter.com/0XZlnkSgpz
Kadarius Toney had the worst game of his young career in primetime
Toney was traded during the regular season last year to Kansas City in exchange for a third-round and sixth-round pick, which the Giants later turned into tight end Darren Waller and rookie Tre Hawkins III this offseason. This left G-Men fans with a lot to be excited about ahead of the 2023 season and a reason to be relieved after parting ways with the wide receiver, who had negative comments towards the team.
So, as you can imagine, Big Blue Nation was thrilled to see the new NFL season begin with the 24-year-old WR struggling for his second organization. Many Giants fans and even a former teammate (Jon Feliciano) of the wideout quickly took their thoughts about his performance to social media. Toney's name was trending on Twitter following the game, and not for any good reasons:
THE KADARIUS TONEY DOWNFALL IS HERE
— evin (@KayvonOjulari) September 8, 2023
pic.twitter.com/wopYmoZHy9
Love to see it
— Jonathan Feliciano (@MongoFeliciano) September 8, 2023
Can’t trust Kadarius Toney, in every way imaginable. That’s why the Giants traded him.
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) September 8, 2023
Kadarius Toney heading back to the locker room pic.twitter.com/IjkJzJDv0h
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 8, 2023
Kadarius Toney’s hands pic.twitter.com/7QZmo8MpVV
— Shooter McGavin (@ShooterMcGavin_) September 8, 2023
Kadarius Toney just got that dawghouse in him.
— Dwain McFarland (@dwainmcfarland) September 8, 2023
Kadarius Toney tonight pic.twitter.com/zGYguGRv0l
— Nick Anloague (@Nick_Anlo) September 8, 2023
Giants fans watching Joe Schoen turning Kadarius Toney into Darren Waller pic.twitter.com/qDwT48l4MB
— zach 🍢 (@Cantguardzach2) September 8, 2023
Giants fans on social media like this at Kadarius Toney pic.twitter.com/fGB9wOGgss
— 💫Levi💫 (@i__Fly3) September 8, 2023
Throughout the offseason, Toney took multiple shots at the Giants and Big Blue fans. He tried to claim his account got hacked, but come on, everyone knew that was a lie. He entered Thursday's game hoping to be a reliable target for Mahomes, but he ended up posting an embarrassing performance.
Giants fans are going to celebrate this for a while and they'll only become even happier if the G-Men can take care of business vs. Dallas on Sunday night.
READ MORE: Joe Schoen is a genius for turning the Kadarius Toney trade into Darren Waller