Chase Claypool certainly isn’t the reason the Pittsburgh Steelers lost Thursday night, but he definitely didn’t help the case in the final minute.
Pittsburgh’s comeback effort fell short, as it dropped the Week 14 opener to the Minnesota Vikings on “Thursday Night Football.”
That the Steelers even got to a point where this is a story is impressive. Pittsburgh trailed 23-0 at halftime but clawed back to get within eight points late in the fourth quarter. Ben Roethlisberger had his team driving down the field into Minnesota territory, hoping to find the end zone and give the Steelers a chance to force overtime with a two-point conversion.
On a pivotal fourth-and-1 at the 43-yard line with 43 seconds to play, Roethlisberger kept the play alive by finding Claypool on a slant. An 8-yard pitch-and-catch extended the drive and kept Pittsburgh in business. For whatever reason, though, Claypool got up after being tackled at the 35-yard line and celebrated his accomplishment. He was sure to point to signal his first down and took his time getting up off the ground and back to the line of scrimmage.
Pittsburgh had no timeouts, so the clock was ticking. As Claypool celebrated, his teammates rushed toward the new line of scrimmage and tried to get the ball back to the hash mark. Because Claypool wasn’t on that same page, the ball actually bounced away before it could be spotted, costing Pittsburgh valuable seconds.
The Vikings tackled Claypool with 39 seconds to play. Pittsburgh didn’t spike the ball and kill the clock until there were 24 seconds left. You easily could argue Claypool cost the team at least 10 seconds which would be good for at least one extra play. Obviously, though, the Steelers eventually ran out of time and couldn’t get in the end zone to tie the game.
What’s just as bad for Claypool is he could be seen freaking out at guard Trai Turner after the spike. Turner was the offensive lineman who hustled to Claypool and tried to get the ball back so it could be set. He basically grabbed Claypool, who didn’t appear to love that and even appeared to be jawing at Turner as the ball was set before the spike.
Not only did Claypool take heat from his teammates in the moment, but the internet had its fun, too, as the wideout was trending into Friday morning.
It was a rough night for Claypool despite eight catches for 93 yards. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin benched him earlier in the game for a senseless penalty. Tomlin was more than willing to admit as much after the game.
And speaking of discipline, don’t look to Roethlisberger — the oldest, most successful veteran on the team — to do anything to hold Claypool accountable.
“It’s not really my job,” Roethlisberger told reporters after the game. “To me, that goes up to coach Tomlin. That’s what he needs to do. That’s his job as the head coach. As the quarterback, it’s my job to help manage what we do on the field and get first downs. Try to score. Dealing with player issues and whatever else you want to say, that’s the coach’s job, not mine.”
Is he wrong? No, not really. Is it a good answer? Also, no. Alas, it must have been a fun plane ride back to Pittsburgh for a Steelers team that really needs to get hot in order to make the playoffs.
