Following the AFC Championship game which saw the Chiefs blow an 11 point to the Bengals, resulting in a 27-24 loss, Eli Apple, who has been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism during the course of his career, had a lot to say on Twitter and even had some negative words towards the man he was tasked with covering, Tyreek Hill.
Apple, who is never afraid to flex his Twitter muscles, decided to react to a fan praising him for the tackle he made on the ever-elusive Hill at the 1-yard line on the final play before halftime to keep Cincinnati down by 11 points compared to 18.
Apple's play started a furious Cincinnati comeback that saw the defense hold Patrick Mahomes and Co. to a mere three points in the second half and overtime.
However, instead of Apple just thanking the fan for his comment, he tagged Hill and called the stud Chiefs wideout 'a baby.'
Hill caught wind of what Apple had to say, and instead of engaging in an online Twitter beef, he simply told Apple to give him a call.
'No Twitter beef big dog just hit my line,' Hill said on Twitter.
Cincinnati's offense took advantage of the strong play from its defense, rattling off 21 unanswered to tie up the ball game. A pair of field goals from Bengals Kicker Evan McPherson and Chiefs Harrison Butcker, sent the game into overtime.
Apple also had a critical pass breakup on the Chiefs' first possession in OT which he nearly had intercepted and took to the house.
To be fair to Apple, despite the criticism he receives from NFL Twitter, he's played a major part in the Bengals' run to Super Bowl LVI. In their divisional-round matchup against the Tennesse Titans, Apple broke up a pass from Ryan Tannehill that resulted in an interception by Logan Wilson. Similar to the ending of this game, the turnover set up McPherson's game-winning field goal as time expired.
Apple was a top ten draft pick in the 2016 NFL Draft coming out of Ohio State. He was drafted by the New York Giants but struggled mightily in the early parts of his career. He also had stints with the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. In fact, just last week, Apple had some extra time to spare while preparing for the AFC Championship game to rip both the Giants and Saints fanbases.
The Chiefs and Bengals will be seeing each other again next season. With Apple's tackle and his ensuing tweet towards Hill afterward, it could make for a great storyline if the two ever lineup against each other in the near future.
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