Mueller: Claypool's mindless mistakes add insult to injury

In lieu of attempting to break down all that happened – and didn’t happen – in the Steelers’ bizarre 36-28 loss to Minnesota Thursday night, let’s instead focus in on the night’s worst performance.

I’m not talking about the Steelers’ run defense, believe it or not.

It’s hard to remember a player on this team going from zero to extremely annoying faster than Chase Claypool. The journey from “high-character player who loves to block and play special teams” to “guy who seems pathologically incapable of making basic, smart football plays” has been a sight to behold.

Some of the complaints about the Steelers having a bad team culture are overblown, the rantings of those that refuse to acknowledge that the NFL is not as it was in the 1960s and 1970s. I have no issue with celebrations, don’t mind some taunting (and find the league’s rule about it preposterous), and almost always err on the side of being pro-player.

That said, there is a time and a place for everything. Make a crucial catch in the first quarter to convert a third-and-15? Go right ahead, do a little flex and a first-down signal. Knock yourself out.

Convert a fourth-and-1 down eight points with no timeouts and the clock at 38 seconds and winding? Make like Larry Fitzgerald, sprint the ball to the hash mark, put it down, and get set for a spike play.

Someone might want to explain to Claypool that distinction, because he was more than happy to do, as he put it, “my little first down point,” after keeping the Steelers’ hopes alive.

Problem was, that “little first down point” took just long enough to allow chaos to ensue, as Trai Turner tried to rush and grab the ball from Claypool, only to be thwarted by Minnesota veteran Eric Kendricks, who sneakily snatched the ball and tossed it a few yards away, burning valuable seconds.

Turner and Kendricks were both veterans trying to make veteran moves; Turner trying to conserve every possible tick of the clock, and Kendricks trying to waste a few. Kendricks’ play could have been whistled for delay of game, but it rarely is, and he disguised the move so well it was impossible to see in real time.

The whole spectacle cost the Steelers at least one more play at the end of the game, which may have yielded a touchdown and a chance to tie with a two-point conversion. Claypool may even have been the target, as he had previously made a spectacular catch down the sideline just minutes prior.

After the game, Claypool wasn’t exactly the picture of contrition. His answer about what happened on the play is worth reading in its entirety.

“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. I knew the situation, I know I’m near the hash. I know the ball is placed on the hash. I’ve got to be better. The ball shouldn’t get knocked out of my hands. It should be, [expletive] penalty.”

What drives me nuts about that answer is that Claypool seems incapable of just saying, “I was wrong, I screwed up, if I get up and place the ball on the hash, we save some time.” He started out contrite, but by the end blamed the officials for not calling a penalty.

Perhaps the craziest part of the sequence is that when the Steelers finally got the ball snapped and spiked, Claypool immediately tore into Turner, screaming at him on national television for having the audacity to try and win the football game. If I was Turner, I’d be seriously tempted to stuff Claypool into his locker sometime this week.

You would think that Claypool would have been chastened by his benching earlier in the game, one that stemmed from a stupid personal foul call after he poked a Minnesota defender in the helmet. He was not.

This is now a pattern of behavior for Claypool, who just a few weeks ago took a needless personal foul near the end of the Bengals’ rout of Pittsburgh, and also fought Minkah Fitzpatrick at a late-August practice.

Mike Tomlin didn’t sound happy with him, and Ben Roethlisberger didn’t even want to talk about him after the game. Current NFL players have mocked Claypool’s complete lack of awareness, and former Super Bowl champion Steeler Ryan Clark had the harshest words of all on ESPN’s “Get Up”, saying, “Claypool is as mentally and emotionally underdeveloped as he is physically overdeveloped. …He only cares about himself. And that self-centeredness is part of what’s bringing the Steelers team and organization down.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Chase Claypool has two paths ahead of him. One path involves him taking these criticisms to heart, putting his head down and putting the work in to be great. He certainly has the physical tools to do so. The other involves continuing to be a defiant, me-first player, one whose Steelers tenure won’t extend beyond his rookie contract.

At this point, I think I have a pretty good idea which one he’ll choose.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Chase Claypool's mindless mistakes add insult to injury