Chase Claypool’s Celebration Hampers Steelers’ Potential Game-Winning Drive
MINNEAPOLIS — After a dreadful first three quarters, the Pittsburgh Steelers amazingly had an opportunity to potentially tie the game with a last minute drive in Minnesota Thursday night.
That was until they ran out of time.
After catching a slant pattern for a crucial first down on the final drive, wide receiver Chase Claypool decided to celebrate the reception instead of getting the ball spiked as quickly as possible.
Claypool’s blunder allowed at least ten seconds to tick off the clock, precious moments Pittsburgh could have used for one more shot into the end zone. They had no timeouts remaining.
Even more troubling, the third-year wideout appeared to be angry with veteran offensive guard Trai Turner, who had interrupted his posing in an attempt to snatch the ball away from him.
After the game, Claypool admitted that he could handled the situation better, but blamed the wasted time on the ball being knocked out of his hands.
“Definitely got to be better,” he said. “I got tackled near the hash, did my little first down point, and went to hand the ball to the ref. He had just got there. So, even if I got right up and looked for him he wasn’t there. So he ran down the field to come get the ball. The ball got knocked out of my hands. That’s what cost us time. But I definitely do have to be better.”
Claypool caught eight passes for 93 yards in the loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night.
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Minneapolis.
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