After the Chiefs lost their 2023 season opener to the Lions on Thursday night, one player is about to feel the wrath of an entire city: Kadarius Toney.
The Lions have done it. They have toppled the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, crawling to this glorious long-awaited day of validation after years and years of heartbreak. They deserve it.
While Detroit smells the crisp air of victory, the Chiefs are sticking up their nose at one player in particular. A player who may have played the role of a hero in the Super Bowl victory against the Eagles, but on Thursday night, he was anything but.
Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney finished with one catch for one yard on five targets. Even that stat line doesn't tell the story of Toney's Icarus-like downfall to start the 2023 season.
The ex-Giants player had four drops on Thursday, one of which was a perfect Mahomes-esque pass that bounced off his body into the outstretched hands of Lions' Brian Branch, who ran it the other way for a pick-6.
In a game in which the Chiefs lost by a single point, 21-20, every play matters, and Toney made enough negative plays for Chiefs fans to probably never forgive him. After all, he did the on thing no one thought was humanly possible: he made Patrick Mahomes look bad.
On a third down, Toney dropped a critical pass in Lions territory that would have resulted in a fresh down but instead forced the Chiefs to settle for a field goal. On a potential game-winning drive in the Chiefs' final possession, Toney took his eyes off the ball and let a pass go right through his hands.
There's little one can say or write to accurately depict the mixed pain, rage, and horror of a Chiefs fan watching Toney fumble over and over again, so why not let the memes do the talking?
In Week 1's loss to the Lions, here are the best memes on Twitter of Kadarius Toney becoming Kansas City's Public Enemy No. 1.
Kadarius Toney will never recover: Best memes from Chiefs' Week 1 loss to Lions
After Week 1, congratulations are in order for the Lions. A certain cut may be in order for the Chiefs.