Much like Matthew Stafford throwing his game-winning touchdown pass, New Orleans Saints fans on Twitter took aim at Eli Apple during his fourth-quarter collapse in Super Bowl LVI. The Cincinnati Bengals starting cornerback put a target on his back weeks ago, going on a bizarre rant ripping everything from Saints fans to New Orleans cuisine just minutes after his team knocked advanced to the next round of the playoffs.
So his name began trending on Twitter immediately after Apple yielded the final score to Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp, which meant his team lost by a final tally of 23-20. Sure, other factors played a part in Cincinnati’s loss. Their offensive line got Joe Burrow killed, with the young franchise quarterback taking sacks on almost every series during the second half. Bengals coach Zac Taylor put too much pressure on that offensive line by going into shotgun on almost every single short yardage situation. And a couple of favorable officiating calls also helped bail Los Angeles out of some jams.
But when the chips were down and the Bengals just needed one stop to get home with a Lombardi Trophy, it was Apple in coverage against Cooper Kupp that proved to be the game-deciding mismatch. And fans — and even some players around the league, including his ex-teammates Michael Thomas and C.J. Gardner-Johnson — were quick to remind him of that on social media:
