Chiefs players give Bengals CB Eli Apple some Twitter payback after Super Bowl loss

Eli Apple was having the time of his life on Twitter two weeks ago. Now the shoe is on the other foot.

The Cincinnati Bengals cornerback was one of the heroes of the AFC championship game when he tackled Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill at the goal line at the end of the first half, a vital play in what would turn out to be a 27-24 overtime win.

Apple did not hesitate to make the Chiefs hear about it on Twitter after the game, calling Hill a "baby" while tagging him on a quote tweet of the play and offering Super Bowl tickets to Hill and his teammate Mecole Hardman.

It was an impressive amount of postgame trash talk, but there was one unfortunate fact for Apple. He still had one game left to play, and that game was against the team with Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp.

Fast forward two weeks, and Apple was no longer enjoying himself. He was in Kupp's torture chamber, allowing both of Kupp's touchdowns in coverage. First, he lost the speedy wideout on a wheel route that gave the Rams a 13-3 lead.

Then, in the fourth quarter, Apple found himself in single coverage against Kupp on second-and-goal with less than two minutes left. Kupp beat him for the touchdown, which would turn out to be the game-winner when the Rams defense forced a turnover on downs on the next drive.

Those touchdowns formed the background for Kupp's Super Bowl MVP case. Apple finished the game with five tackles and a pass defended to his name.

Hill and Hardman, watching from home, enjoyed seeing their Twitter foe's misfortune. Hardman even tweeted a picture of his Super Bowl ring to the still ring-less Apple.

Even Apple's former teammatets on the New Orleans Saints, star wide receiver Michael Thomas and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, saw fit to clown on him. Some bad blood remains over his departure from the Saints, where he wasn't exactly a star.

If there's a lesson to be learned in all this, it's probably to wait until you win the Super Bowl, not reach it, before you start going for the jugular on social media. Because there may be some people waiting to hit right back.