Steelers WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling admits no penalty on final play ‘sucks’

All the Pittsburgh Steelers had to do to secure a playoff berth in Week 17 was beat the 3-12 Cleveland Browns. Instead, they suffered a brutal 13-6 upset loss when Marquez Valdes-Scantling failed to haul in a would-be game-tying touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers with 21 seconds remaining.

Valdes-Scantling only caught three passes for 21 yards in the game, but was the target of Rodgers’ final pass of the game. While the jump-ball attempt appeared to be well-defended by Browns cornerback Denzel Ward, Valdes-Scantling felt a flag should have been thrown.

“I went up, and he did a good job of playing through me,” Valdes-Scantling said, via Brendan Howe of Steelers Now and Chris Adamski of TribLive.com. “I thought I should’ve got a call, but no call was made. It sucks.”

#Steelers WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling on the failed fourth-and-goal jump ball that Aaron Rodgers threw his way:

“I thought I should’ve got a call, but no call was made.” #HereWeGo pic.twitter.com/qxyBuq6CGL

— Brendan Howe (@bybrendanhowe) December 28, 2025

In any normal situation, that pass would have been thrown to DK Metcalf. Rodgers did not have that option in Week 17, with Metcalf serving the first half of a two-game suspension he received for a viral altercation with a Detroit Lions fan the week before.

Slot receiver Calvin Austin III also sat out with an injury, leaving Pittsburgh severely shorthanded at receiver. The injuries led to Valdes-Scantling playing a bulk of the snaps in just his fourth game with the team.

The Steelers’ receiving corps was further depleted when tight end Darnell Washington left the game early with an injury. The 6-foot-7 Washington is another one of Rodgers’ go-to red zone targets, leaving the 6-foot-4 Valdes-Scantling one of his few big targets remaining.

While Valdes-Scantling has struggled to find a home in the NFL, he has a long history with Rodgers. The two spent four years together on the Green Bay Packers from 2018 to 2021 before the wideout left to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs.

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