(Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)
Chase Claypool had just three receptions for 45 yards in the Steelers' 23-16 win over the Bills on Sunday, but he contributed to all four of the scoring drives in the second half.
Claypool had a 22-yard leaping grab over All-Pro cornerback Tre'Davious White down the right sidelines on the first drive of the second half that led to a Chris Boswell field. Claypool had a 25-yard run on an end-around on the following possession that set up another Boswell field goal. And then, on the drive that resulted in a 5-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Diontae Johnson in the fourth quarter, Claypool drew a 26-yard defensive pass interference penalty two plays prior to the score. Claypool also had a clutch 14-yard reception on third-and-7 late in the fourth quarter that set up a 45-yard Chris Boswell field goal to give the Steelers a 23-13 lead with 2:42 left in the game.
Ben Roethlisberger gave the second-year wide receiver out of Notre Dame some high praise when he spoke with the media on Wednesday.
"I thought Chase played like a grown man," Roethlisberger said. " I mean some of his catches down the field, it's either a catch or it's a penalty. That's what we preach to him all the time, that he should be unstoppable."
Roethlisberger had similar comments about Claypool on his YouTube series "DIFFERENT."
"He played grown man football, grown man football on Sunday," Roethlisberger said about Claypool. "And he's got to do that all the time. Literally, some of the things that he did was just like, that's the Chase Claypool that I tell him he can be. That we all know he can be. I mean, some of the stuff he was doing was like, 'OK, how do you stop that? What do you do?'"