Terrell Edmunds nearly cost his Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night, and he wasn’t even playing.
The Steelers were leading the Las Vegas Raiders 13-10 late in their Week 16 game in Pittsburgh and intercepted Derek Carr on a big 2nd-and-10 play with 29 seconds left. The Pittsburgh defense gathered in the end zone to celebrate the huge turnover. One unexpected player joined in on the celebration: Edmunds.
Edmunds, who was out for the game due to a hamstring injury, ran onto the field to celebrate with his defensive teammates.
Edmunds, who was in street clothes, caused the Steelers to be called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The 15-yard penalty pushed the Steelers back to their 19 from the 34. Since the Raiders had all three timeouts left and needed just a field goal to tie, the penalty seemed to keep the Raiders in the game.
Alas, Pittsburgh ran for a first down to ice the victory, but not before Edmunds made his mistake.
NFL Network rules expert Dean Blandino said on the broadcast that that sort of infraction was pointed out on the officials’ training tape released before Week 16, so it was fresh in mind for the crew ahead of the game. That’s probably the last time Edmunds makes that error.
By getting the 13-10 win, the Steelers are now 7-8 and their playoff hopes are still alive.
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