The Pittsburgh Steelers scored a whopping seven points in the season opener. They had one great 95-yard touchdown drive in the two-minute offense after posting five consecutive three-and-outs to begin the game, and then didn’t do much after it, either.
That’s not even close to what they aspire to. It’s night and day from the team the Steelers promised to be during the preseason. And they fully expect to be dramatically better. But because they still have so much to show, WR Diontae Johnson’s comment yesterday about how good they could look even while he’s sidelined hits a little softer, admittedly.
“I feel like they’re gonna be just as good as if I was in the offense this week”, the veteran receiver told reporters yesterday, via the team’s website. “I know it’s gonna be tough on the offense that I’m not there and it’s a big hit to the offense, but our receiver room, we got great guys around. We got a great quarterback who knows what he’s doing and can put the ball anywhere for us to make plays on the outside”.
Johnson had the second-most receiving yards in the game for the Steelers, catching three passes for 48 yards. He pulled his hamstring on a 26-yard catch-and-run early in the third quarter, an injury that is expected to sideline him for perhaps the next four games.
That will be a tough pill to swallow, especially given the frequency with which he presents his quarterback an easy target because he is so adept at getting open. But he also believes that others are capable of filling his shoes.
That includes second-year Calvin Austin III, who has done much this offseason to try to emulate the highlights of Johnson’s game and hopes to show his capabilities in that area while the veteran is sidelined and he is asked to play a larger role as one of the team’s top three receivers.
Of course, it won’t just be Austin stepping in. For one thing, we should see a much higher percentage of running plays than last week, when the Steelers only ran nine designed runs with running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. It would help in that regard if they could manage to pick up a first down in the first 28 minutes against the Cleveland Browns.
We should also see an increase in usage of 12 personnel, not just with Darnell Washington as a second tight end but also Connor Heyward. The latter did catch two passes in the opener for 19 yards, though Washington is still seeking his first career target. And they also have to get Pat Freiermuth going more.
There is so much more potential in this offense, with this collection of talent, than we saw last Sunday against the 49ers. I think we’ll see some of that against the Browns, but it will also be a work in progress. Not having Johnson out there will not help matters, though, no matter how confident he is in what they can do with or without him.
