thelesterlee
Chase Claypool is one of the most talented wide receivers in the NFL today. Every time he steps onto the field, it’s a mismatch. Defenders stand no chance against this man. His numbers may not top the leader boards but he’s on a team with JuJu Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson splitting targets with him and a quarterback throwing beach balls all game long (and then cornering drunk girls at bars after the game).
But for some reason, Claypool is the most hated man in Pittsburgh right now after the Steelers lost 28-36 to the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night.
With the Steelers marching down the field trying to score a touchdown with less than a minute left in the game, Claypool caught an 8-yard slant on 4th and 1 to keep the drive going. Chaos ensued.
Chase Claypool cost the Steelers AT LEAST 5 seconds posing & pointing
that would have given the Steelers 1 more play… 1 more shot to tie it up
so dumb, so clueless pic.twitter.com/cy7wSkv4XE
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) December 10, 2021
Okay so, uh, not good. There are about 36 seconds left in the game and Claypool decided to celebrate getting a first down instead of immediately getting up and rushing to find a ref to set the ball so Roethlisberger could spike it and stop the clock.
He then freaked out at the offensive lineman for knocking the ball out of his hands. Just a weird moment. Here’s what Chase had to say about that play:
“Definitely got to be better. I got tackled near the hash. Did my little first-down point. Went to hand the ball to the ref. He just got there. So, even if I got right up and looked for him, he wasn’t there. He ran down the field to come get the ball, and the ball got knocked out of my hands. That’s what cost us time. But I definitely do have to be better.”
He blamed the clock ticking away on his teammate. Perhaps it was the result of not getting the opportunity to watch what took place and I’m sure he believes that the ball hitting the ground was the problem but if you watch that clip again, Claypool was celebrating that first down for what felt like 20 minutes.
Obviously a strange moment but the reaction to it has been even stranger. Chase Claypool didn’t lose this game. The Vikings ran for 242 yards. His job is to catch footballs and he does that as well or better than most. We should all be spending this day shitting on the Steelers defense for allowing Dalvin Cook to put up 205 yards on their heads.
The outcome of an NFL game can absolutely be determined in one play. This was not one of those games. Pittsburgh being afraid to tackle people determined this game. Chase being a weirdo didn’t help but let’s not pretend as if he was playing middle linebacker out there.
