Diontae Johnson has had quite the up-and-down season for the Steelers. He was injured in their week one blowout loss to the San Francisco 49ers and consequently missed the next four games. He returned as the Steelers came out of the bye week and played great, amassing 20 receptions and 254 yards over his next three games. He even picked up his first touchdown in 22 months in the form of a 4th quarter-go-ahead score against the Tennessee Titans.
But since that moment, Johnson’s season has taken a bit of a nosedive. His targets have still been there, at least to an extent, he’s had 12 over the past two weeks. But the production, on the other hand, has not. He’s converted just 3 of those targets into catches for a measly total of 33 yards.
It all culminated on the final real Steelers offensive possession of last week’s game. The Steelers’ offense ran three plays, Johnson was targeted on all of them, none of which resulted in a completion. Although “target” may be a bit liberal here, as the second down throw wasn’t in Johnson’s stratosphere and it’s clear the two haven’t been on the same page.
Johnson addressed these concerns about him and Pickett being on different pages in an interview today provided by the team.
“It’s not a big difference at all, no.” Johnson said. “We have a connection and plays like that happen. It’s just a matter of me going to talk to him and see what I can do better and what he wants me to do on the route to make that play.”
It’s refreshing at least, to see Johnson show some public confidence in his connection with Pickett. In the last few days since the Browns game, Johnson has taken to social media, defending himself against accusations of running an incorrect route. He’s also voiced his frustration due to being open but not getting the ball from Pickett.
One of the big talking points regarding the benefits of Johnson coming back from injury was that it could open some stuff up for George Pickens, who had been seeing a lot of defensive attention with Johnson out. But recently, it seems it has been having an adverse effect. In fact, the two haven’t had 25 yards each in any of their last four games. Not great considering those two are supposed to be your premier weapons.
Despite the recent struggles, Johnson is still the team’s most proven receiver by far. Getting him involved is key to getting the offense back on track. At least in theory, it should open stuff up for Pickens over the top, and force teams to not focus so much on stopping Najee Harris, who is another guy who needs to get going. The Pickett-Johnson relationship might be the most important one on this team right now, and Steelers fans can only hope that the two at least are reading the same book against the Bengals on Sunday.
