Watch: JuJu’s somersault catch is nearly a touchdown

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The fact that JuJu Smith-Schuster is on my fantasy football team had nothing to do with the elation I felt on Sunday when he made one of the most spectacular games of the game, and his career, against the Cincinnati Bengals. In fact, I’ve been a bit opposed to the whole idea that players should perform a certain way so that fans can get a good fantasy score. Maybe I’m old-school that way. But there was no way I wasn’t going to stand up and cheer when JuJu hauled in one heck-of-a-catch that looked, initially, to be a touchdown.

The Steelers were able to take their first lead of the game late in the second quarter thanks to a 75-yard drive on eight plays that was capped by a one-yard touchdown dive by James Conner. Tight end Vance McDonald literally ran over Vontaze Burfict to earn a 26-yard catch-and-run, but it was the following play that made the highlight reel.

With Darqueze Dennard playing tight coverage, Smith-Schuster got open and Ben Roethlisberger found him one-on-one. Roethlisberger threw a beautiful arc of a touch pass that allowed Smith-Schuster to get up in the air. While Dennard and Smith-Schuster both had their hands on the ball, it was Smith-Schuster who landed on top of the defender with control and looked like he did not touch the field, sliding on the crown of his helmet into the end zone for a touchdown.

Upon further review, Smith-Schuster did grab the ball and pin it against Dennard’s helmet, but he was ruled down just inside the one-yard line due to his own helmet being the first body part (if you can call it that) to touch the turf just outside the goal line. End-over-end, a somersault of a play that showed how much heart JuJu played with on Sunday in a win over AFC North rival Cincinnati.

Way to go, kid.


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