(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
The Kansas City Chiefs lost their season opener for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era.
Travis Kelce’s absence was more than evident, especially down the stretch, as Mahomes couldn’t find a reliable receiver to haul in any of his passes.
Second-year pro Skyy Moore struggled to hold onto the football as he was outpowered by bigger defenders, but Kadarius Toney stole all the headlines with several head-scratching drops.
He was responsible for a pick-six and then failed to keep the chains moving when the game was on the line, leading to this heartbreaking loss.
However, Mahomes claims that his confidence in the former New York Giants first-round pick is unmoved despite these woes:
“I have trust in KT. He missed a lot of training camp,” Mahomes said. “Obviously, he wanted to play and fought in rehab hard so he could play. Stuff is not always going to go your way, obviously, he would have wanted to catch a few of those in the game, but I have trust that he is going to be the guy that I go to in those crucial moments and he’s going to make the catch and win us some games like he did last year and get him more and more reps. I’m sure that those drops will disappear.”
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes: “I have trust in” WR Kadarius Toney despite Thursday’s dropshttps://t.co/rIrl3Ju225 pic.twitter.com/RTkxAlZl2l
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) September 8, 2023
Toney had three drops and was only able to haul in one of his team-high five targets for one yard.
Mahomes completed passes to 12 different receivers without Kelce, with RB Isiah Pacheco having the most receptions (4 for 31 yards) and Marques Valdez-Scantling logging the most receiving yards (48 on two grabs).
He completed just 21 of 39 passes for 226 yards, two scores, and one interception, adding six carries for 45 yards.
The Detroit Lions also deserve plenty of merit for how they managed to control the tempo of the game.
Still, having three drops at this level is simply unacceptable, and Toney could fall back in the pecking order if he doesn’t get his act together.
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