Pittsburgh Steelers WR Diontae Johnson would’ve taken a touchdown however he could get it. But to do it in game-winning fashion, scoring the Steelers’ go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes of Thursday’s 20-16 win over the Tennessee Titans, it’s all the sweeter. And his drought is finally over.
Speaking to reporters after the game, he admitted it’s a weight off his shoulders.
“655 days since I scored,” a smiling Johnson told reporters via the team site in his postgame presser. “I’m happy I was able to get in the end zone today.”
He scored on an out to the front right pylon to give Pittsburgh the lead with minutes to go. The Steelers’ defense bent but didn’t break on the Titans’ final drive a few possessions later, holding on for the win. Johnson finished the game with seven catches for 90 yards and that score, leading the team in all three categories. He also caught a key 32-yard sideline throw on third down earlier in that drive prior to his touchdown.
Take a look at the play. It’s worth the wait.
Johnson admitted he wasn’t even sure how to celebrate the moment.
“I didn’t know what I was gonna do to be honest, once I scored,” he said. “But I was just trying to get hyped with my teammates, Kenny [Pickett], whoever it was that was coming up to me. I was just trying to show love. Because everybody put in a lot of work.”
Johnson’s last touchdown came in the Steelers’ last playoff game, their AFC Wild Card loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021. But if you look at just the regular season, he hadn’t scored since Week 17 of the 2021 season. That was Jan. 3, 2022, a five-yard second quarter score against the Cleveland Browns.
In 2022, Johnson set an NFL record for most receptions in a season without a touchdown, ending the year with 86 grabs for 882 yards and zero touchdowns. Hoping for a fresh start in 2023, Johnson went down with a hamstring injury in Week One and missed the next month because of it. He returned in Week Seven and went the last two games without a touchdown.
There’s been plenty of close calls along the way. End zone grabs where he couldn’t quite get his feet inbounds. Slants over the middle where he was open, but the pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage. Last week, he looked open for a late-half touchdown against Jacksonville but miscommunication between him and Pickett led to an incompletion and field goal, the frustration evident in Johnson’s body language. Even before his score tonight, he let a ball slip through his hands for a would-be walk-in score.
But the drought is all a memory. Now, he’ll look to put together a touchdown streak in Week 10 against the Green Bay Packers as the Steelers look to put together a win streak of their own.
