Frustrated Ben Roethlisberger sounds off on Chase Claypool mental error

The Pittsburgh Steelers fell back to the .500 mark last night against the Minnesota Vikings, falling to a game out of the final playoff spot in the AFC thanks to a 36-28 defeat. 

But the play that had everyone talking was the embarrassing mental error from wide receiver Chase Claypool, who cost his team in a major way by celebrating a first down gain as the clock continued to wind down. His team had no timeouts left as guard Trai Turner tried to get the ball out of Claypool's arms, only to have it drop to the ground as his team frantically tried to line up in order to spike the ball in time. 

Afterwards, a clearly frustrated quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was asked about Claypool's antics - and said that it's head coach Mike Tomlin's job to handle that sort of thing. 

"It's not really my job. To me that goes up to Coach Tomlin. That's what he needs to do. That's his job as the head coach," Roethlisberger said on addressing Claypool's in-game issues. "As the quarterback, it's my job to help manage what we do on the field and getting 1st downs and trying to score."

"Dealing with player issues and whatever else you want to say, that's the coach's job, not mine."

Of course, it was Claypool himself who took a subtle jab at his teammates while explaining his version of the events that transpired on the field. 

"I got tackled near the hash, did my little first down point, went to hand the ball to the ref," Claypool said. "He just got there. Even if I got right up and looked for him, he wasn't there. He ran down the field to come get the ball. The ball got knocked out of my hands. That is what cost us time. But I definitely do have to be better. I knew the situation."

It sure doesn't seem like a postseason berth is in the cards for the Steelers in what is likely Roethlisberger's swan song with them, and these sort of things certainly don't help.