Steelers Four Downs: OK to criticize Chase Claypool, but don’t forget his production

1. Chase-ing recognition

A lightning rod for criticism after some ill-advised verbal and on-field actions in recent weeks, Chase Claypool’s solid production for the Pittsburgh Steelers during Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings is getting overlooked.

Claypool caught eight of nine balls thrown his way for a game-high 93 yards. He was Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded offensive player in the game for the Steelers.

For the season, while much is rightly made of how Diontae Johnson is Ben Roethlisberger’s favorite receiver to throw to, Claypool actually has a higher target percentage (he’s thrown at on 36.7% of the time when running routes) — and he’s thrown to, on average, much farther down the field than Johnson (13.2 yards average depth of target to 8.3 for Johnson).

Claypool also leads all Steelers pass-catchers in average yards after catch (9.8) and is a close second to Johnson in yards per route run (2.82 to 2.80 – no other Steelers active player is above 1.0).

Among all receivers in the league, Claypool is second in contested targets (31) and tied for fifth in contested catches (five). He’s 18th in the NFL yards per route run.

Also, according to footballoutsiders.com, no receiver in the NFL has drawn more assessed pass interference penalties (11) since Claypool entered the league. That’s 226 yards of “bonus” production not reflected in his basic receiving stats.

None of this is to justify or overlook Claypool’s shortcomings. And he’s imperfect purely as a player, too, as exhibited by ranking fourth-from-last among the 36 most-targeted NFL receivers in percentage of targeted passes caught (59.5%).

But it’s wise to keep in mind Claypool’s talent and that if the Steelers of 2022 and beyond are to have a dynamic offense, Claypool will be a significant part of the reason.

Chase Claypool’s reaction to a late first down was one of several lowlights for the second-year wide receiver who was benched briefly in the first half after a personal foul penalty on the opening drive. https://t.co/26Ogunj2B3

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) December 10, 2021

2. Quite improbable

An illustrated, pass-the-eye-test example of Claypool’s abilities shined through in a fourth-quarter catch Thursday that joined one earlier by James Washington to account for two of the Steelers’ three most improbable completions of the season.

Roethlisberger’s 38-yard pass down the sideline to Claypool during the final drive of the game had Fox analyst Troy Aikman in awe. Claypool overcame what was deemed interference from Bashaud Breeland to make a diving catch that Next Gen Stats calculated had a 15.8% chance of being caught.

That makes it the 15th-most improbable catch across the NFL this season. The catch that stood 15th stood for less than a half hour of real time Thursday night was Washington’s leaping touchdown in the middle of the field between two defenders that had a 16.2% chance of being completed.

The NFL describes its “catch probability” formula as a model that takes into account air distance thrown, receiver separation from defender, receiver distance from sideline and a few other variables.

A 41-yard catch by Johnson in a Week 2 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders is the Steelers’ most improbable catch of the season.

Amazing concentration by Chase CLAYPOOL to catch this pass…..pic.twitter.com/oGcc0DPTGu

— Doug Rush (@TheDougRush) December 10, 2021

3. Few TE TDs

Perhaps it hearkens back to a few too many Rob Gronkowski big games against them. Or maybe sometimes these narratives just take on a life of their own. But the numbers provided by pro-football-reference.com suggest a commonly held belief about the Steelers isn’t necessarily true.

It’s sometimes said the Steelers are bad at defending opposing tight ends. But when it comes to preventing them from scoring, at least, the Steelers are actually among the best. Only one team (the Denver Broncos) has allowed fewer tight end touchdowns (two) this season. None has allowed fewer over the past two seasons (five) nor over the past five seasons (22).

The NFL’s Circle of Parity for 2021 is now complete after the Lions’ win yesterdaypic.twitter.com/hGHTxi3oaq

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) December 6, 2021

4. Parity reigns

No team in the AFC had fewer than four losses after 13 weeks of the season, the first time that has happened in 19 years. Twelve of the conference’s 16 teams are either in a playoff position or within a game of it; another, the Miami Dolphins (6-7), is 1½ games behind the triumvirate of 7-5 teams that hold the wild-card spots.

At 9-4, the New England Patriots lead the conference standings. The NFC’s current No. 1 seed is the Arizona Cardinals. Those teams missed the playoffs in 2020.

If the standings hold, it’ll be the first time since 1992 that each conference’s No. 1 seed had missed the postseason the prior year. That year, the Steelers had gone from 7-9 in Chuck Noll’s final season to earning hold-field advantage throughout the playoffs under rookie coach Bill Cowher. (The 49ers were the NFC’s top seed.)

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