The Pittsburgh Steelers had a chance to come back against the Vikings, but the blatant ignorance of wide receiver Chase Claypool strikes again.
After the trainwreck we witnessed against the Cincinnati Bengals a few weeks back, I didn’t think I would see things get any worse for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season. Somehow, the dismal play on both sides of the ball in the first half on Thursday Night Football might have surpassed that.
The Vikings were able to smash the ball down our throats with Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson was constantly running wide open, and Pittsburgh’s offensive line was in shambles. Going into halftime, Minnesota held a 23-0 lead. The deficit got even worse when they scored six more unanswered points midway through the third quarter.
Remarkably, Mike Tomlin’s team was finally able to shake off the rust kick things into gear. The Steelers suddenly got a burst of energy as they scored four touchdowns from the end of the third quarter until 4:14 remaining in the fourth. In the meantime, they were able to hold the Vikings to just one more score over this span.
On Pittsburgh’s final drive of the game, Ben Roethlisberger rallied his troops and led his team down the field with the clock ticking. The final play was a beautiful pass to Pat Freiermuth between three defenders, but the ball was dislodged perfectly by Harrison Smith as time expired. The Steelers would lose 28-36.
The Steelers nearly mounted a remarkable 29-point comeback. This would have been the biggest in the history of the NFL. Sadly they fell just short of this. Obviously, there was plenty of blame to pass around for this loss, but Chase Claypool’s ignorance of the game situation boiled the blood of Steelers fans on Thursday night.
The Steelers receiver made some costly decisions
Let’s be honest with ourselves: that first-half performance was so bad that Pittsburgh didn’t deserve to even be in this game. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen such a disaster in one half of play. While everyone — the coaching staff and players included– deserve blame for this defeat, Chase Claypool’s actions were inexcusable.
In the first half, the big wide receiver got up after a catch and foolishly pointed in the face of a defensive back — making obvious contact with his helmet in front of the official. This drew a 15-yard taunting penalty. However, what he did down the stretch deserves to be ridiculed more harshly.
With 42 seconds on the clock and no timeouts for the Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger found Claypool on a 9-yard reception for a big 4th-and-1 conversion. However, instead of rushing to get back to the line of scrimmage, Claypool stood up, stared ahead, and foolishly pointed with both hands to signal a first down.
Though this might seem like it’s not worth mentioning, Claypool ultimately cost his team another five seconds in the ball game. Instead of the incompletion to Pat Freiermuth being the last of the game, the Steelers would have had another chance to score.
Claypool’s attitude, arrogance, and ignorance of the game situation could have potentially cost this team a chance at the greatest comeback the NFL has ever seen.
The Steelers need to go back to the drawing board after this one, and I have a feeling Coach Tomlin is going to be having a lengthy chat with his starting receiver. Chase Claypool has a lot of talent, but he’s starting to become a headache because of the foolish decisions he continues to make.