Category: 2021 Week 14 Steelers vs. Vikings

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According to NFL reporter Ian Rapoport, the quad injury suffered by Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Alex Highsmith on Thursday night against the Minnesota Vikings is not believed to be major. Rapoport called the injury a contusion which is the best possible outcome.

Pittsburgh lost both starting outside linebackers on Thursday as T.J. Watt went down first with a groin injury. The Steelers defense was forced to play most of the game with Taco Charlton and Derrek Tuszka as the primary pass rushers. Less than ideal.

Despite a late rally by Pittsburgh, the Steelers lost to the Vikings 36-28. These injuries contributed to the league-leading best pass-rushing unit failed to register a sack of Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins.

#Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith, who left last night’s game early, is not believed to have suffered a major injury, source said. He’ll have more tests today, but early indications are that it’s a bad contusion above the knee.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 10, 2021

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It seems that every week the Pittsburgh Steelers start slow, finish fast and it’s a crapshoot how the game turns out. Thursday night’s game with the Minnesota Vikings was a perfect example. Pittsburgh spotted the Vikings a 29-0 lead before charging back, only to come up short 36-28. Here are our big takeaways from the loss.

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In the first quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers Thursday night loss to the Minnesota Vikings, head coach Mike Tomlin was forced to bench wide receiver Chase Claypool. Tomlin did it because Claypool drew a ridiculous personal foul as he continues to be the most penalized wide receiver in the NFL.

Tomlin did it in hopes Claypool would get the message about what is acceptable and what isn’t. And for a time it looked like he got through to him. During the Steelers late-game rally, Claypool made a couple of truly impressive catches.

But then this happend. With less than 40 seconds to play and with no timeouts, Claypool catches a slant for a first down. But rather than hustle the football to the line of scrimmage so Pittsburgh could clock it, Claypool struck a pose.

Yep, he had to take several second to do his first-down pose while down on one knee. Guard Trai Turner rushed over to get the ball, it fell to the ground and wasted even more time. Then, after the Steelers finally clock the ball, you see Claypool visibly upset with Turner.

This would seem to suggest the message to Claypool didn’t get through pic.twitter.com/uVbVv26GzE

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) December 10, 2021

Claypool’s lack of awareness of the game situation is mind-blowing. The amount of time wasted with his theatrics cost the Steelers at least one play and even though we have no idea if it would have changed the outcome, there’s no denying how bad this looked for Claypool in a season where he has underperformed.

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Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was visibly upset in the postgame press conference after the Minnesota Vikings loss on Thursday night. And rightfully so. Both sides of the football laid down for two and a half quarters before finally deciding to turn it on and attempt to rally against the Vikings.

But Tomlin was very specific on where his venom was directed. The line of scrimmage on both sides of the football.

“We’re getting handled up front on both sides of the ball,” Tomlin said. Unfortunately, this isn’t a new problem. Injuries have been the main culprit in why the offensive and defensive lines have struggled so much this season but whoever is on that field is a professional and Tomlin didn’t excuse guys not doing very basic, fundamental things just because they are backups.

Tomlin hinted that he is willing to use the extra time before the next game to shuffle some guys around but the well is dry. Pittsburgh isn’t likely to go out on the free-agent market and we can’t act like there are any Pro Bowlers out there. It’s going to be more about whichever guys are out there must do a better job in doing their jobs.

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Despite a remarkable second-half rally, the Pittsburgh Steelers comeback falls just short as they lose 36-28 to the Minnesota Vikings. Pittsburgh trailed 29-0 midway through the third quarter before turning in on and outscoring the Vikings 28-7 in the last quarter and a half.

It looked like the Steelers were doomed for much of the game. Both sides of the football came out looking flat and exhausted in the first half and the Vikings literally ran all over them. But true to form the Steelers didn’t go down without a fight.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw three second-half touchdowns and finished with 308 yards passing. Running back Najee Harris rushed for 94 yards and had 104 yards of total offense. These numbers are made more remarkable when you consider the Steelers have 66 total yards of offense in the first half. The Steelers had a chance on the final play to get a touchdown which with a two-point try would have tied it in regulation. But it just wasn’t meant to be.

Pittsburgh should be proud of the effort late but embarrassed by why it had to happen that way. The Steelers now get a couple of extra days of rest before they welcome the Tennessee Titans to town on December 19.

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