With 4:45 left in the first quarter, it looked like Pittsburgh’s explosive offense to start the game was going to get its first score via a touchdown pass from QB Kenny Pickett to WR Diontae Johnson. However, the referees ruled the pass as incomplete as Johnson had the ball come out at the end of the play despite getting both feet down in-bounds prior to being hit out of bounds by CB DJ Turner II.
Johnson, when asked about the no-touchdown call in the locker room following the game, stated that he didn’t agree with the ruling on the field. He did acknowledge that he can do a better job securing the ball to the ground to prevent the play from becoming a questionable call with the result in the hands of the officiating crew.
“Yeah, it is what it is,” Johnson said to the media following the game, according to Joe Rutter’s X page. “I had three feet down. I just have to hold onto the ball all the way down to the ground.”
Johnson wasn’t the only one who thought he did everything that he needed to do to complete the process of the catch and secure the touchdown. Former NFL ref and current CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore said Johnson completed all the requirements for a catch, suggesting that if Pittsburgh would’ve challenged the play, it would’ve likely been overturned.
Head coach Mike Tomlin ended up not challenging the play, later saying that he had lost vision of the play and couldn’t count the number of steps that Johnson had made before going out of bounds and losing the football. Johnson is convinced he had three feet down, and if anyone from upstairs or on the sideline would have seen the same, they likely would’ve communicated with Tomlin to throw the challenge flag.
Johnson has a right to be frustrated about not getting the score on that play, but he is also correct that he could do a better job of surviving the ball to the ground to keep the referees from having the opportunity to rule the pass incomplete. Either way, Pittsburgh managed to pull out another victory in Cincinnati, but Johnson must learn to keep his emotions in check, having his attitude and effort questioned during the game as he would seem to linger on previous plays he didn’t make instead of focusing on the next play.
