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Update (10/7/13, 8:45 a.m. MT):
Some, including vv2micca in the comments, have speculated that McCoy was directing his tweet at Bayless, not Moreno. As w2micca sees it, McCoy may have been pointing out that Bayless has said Moreno is a terrible running back in the past and is now praising him.
That may be a stretch, but it's a possibility. Unless McCoy clears the air, we'll assume his tweet was indeed directed at Moreno.
See the original story below:
Last week, the Denver Broncos dominated the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 52-20. In the game, Denver's Knowshon Moreno out-paced Philly's LeSean McCoy, rushing twelve times for 78 yards (6.5 yards a carry) and a score. McCoy rushed 16 times for 73 yards (4.6 yards a carry) and was unable to get into the end zone.
Clearly, Moreno was the better back that day.
So that may explain why McCoy appears to be butthurt. During Denver's 51-48 win over the Dallas Cowboys earlier today, Moreno rushed 19 times for 93 yards (4.9) and a score while adding 57 more yards out of the backfield.
Moreno's performance caught everyone's attention, including ESPN's Skip Bayless. We're not particularly huge Bayless fans over here, but McCoy apparently follows him (or saw the tweet retweeted) and felt the need to respond:
Knowshon sucks RT @RealSkipBayless: Peyton is doing what Peyton always does. But Knowshon is KILLING the Cowboys.
— Lesean McCoy (@CutonDime25) October 6, 2013
Oh, Shady.
I have every reason to like McCoy. He went to high school about forty-five minutes away from where I grew up—several of my buddies played against him in high school and I played with one of his teammates in a flag football league after high school.
But to say Moreno "sucks," after his team dominated your team? Yeah, that's not cutting it.
#Eagles LeSean McCoy, those are some strong words for a loser. RT @CutonDime25: Knowshon sucks
— MileHighReport (@MileHighReport) October 6, 2013
It was hypocritical of McCoy, to say the least. Shady himself is having a nice year, but his team is 2-2.
@CutonDime25 #Eagles suck.
— Tim Lynch (@TimLynch1978) October 7, 2013
RT @CutonDime25 "Knowshon sucks" Tell him what you think of this #Broncos Country. Oh shady BTW, your entire team sucks #Truth
— Mike G (@Bronco_Mike251) October 7, 2013
We knew of no ill will between the two running backs before McCoy's tweet, and when asked about it following Sunday's game, Moreno said he was unaware of any rifts between them.
I asked Moreno if he knew why Lesean McCoy would say sucked. Moreno had no idea, knew of no issue w/ him.
— Lindsay Jones (@bylindsayhjones) October 7, 2013
As MHR's Christopher Hart noted in a post-game staff email thread, McCoy was picked 41 selections after Moreno in the 2009 NFL draft, which may be the root of the issue. Last week's game probably didn't help, either.
The best part of the whole ordeal was Moreno's response on Twitter...
Glad @CutonDime25 was watching our game tonight.Great team win,lets keeprolling.#5-0#LetHatersHate#ShotsWereFiredButNoOneGotHit
— Knowshon Moreno (@knowshonmoreno) October 7, 2013
That's called getting #pwned.
Beyond awesome that Knowshon shot back at McCoy on Twitter. Just awesome. #Broncos
— Raj Sharan (@Raj_Sharan) October 7, 2013
On the year, Moreno has averaged 5.1 yards a carry; McCoy has averaged 5.2. Moreno's four touchdowns represent one more than the three McCoy can boast of through five games.
There's probably few that would even consider arguing that Moreno is a better running back than McCoy. But right now, Moreno—and his team—is playing a heck of a lot better than McCoy.
Do your talking on the field, Shady. You just lost on Twitter.