The last time the Pittsburgh Steelers played the Cleveland Browns, QB Kenny Pickett threw for 222 passing yards and one touchdown, a 71-yard strike to WR George Pickens. Pickens managed to put together a strong performance against Cleveland, catching four passes for 127 yards and a score as Pittsburgh went on to win the game 26-22.
This time around, the Steelers should have their receiving core near full strength as WR Diontae Johnson missed the first meeting against Cleveland with a hamstring injury. Also, TE Pat Freiermuth is working his way back from a hamstring injury that landed him on IR, having his 21-day window opened this week to return to practice. Johnson was asked by the media on Wednesday how much different of an offense he thinks the Steelers are compared to when they faced Cleveland in the first matchup. Johnson pointed to his presence as a big difference from the last matchup, noting that the Browns’ secondary will have to play Pittsburgh honest with him and Pickens out there together.
“I feel like it’s gonna make it a little tougher on the defense for them specifically not being able to just key in on one person,” Johnson said to the media on video from Steelers.com. “Me and George… it makes them think a little more like what they gonna do in certain situations on those third down moments. Whether they going to double us, cloud us, or whatever it is. Like I said, it just puts a little more pressure on them.”
On top of the running game improving drastically from Pittsburgh’s last game against the Browns, the passing game will feature the team’s top two receivers in Pickens and Johnson who create matchup problems for opposing secondaries. Teams were able to key in on Pickens solely when Johnson was out of the lineup, seeing him have quiet performances against the Texans as a result of extra coverage. With Johnson in the lineup, opposing defenses need to decide who they are going to put their focus on as Johnson vastly improves the talent level on the field at wide receiver thanks to his ability to separate from coverage and move the chains routinely.
While Johnson could help alleviate the attention on Pickens, that really hasn’t been the case thus far since he returned to the lineup. Outside of the Rams game where both played well, Pickens has been quiet the last three weeks, catching six passes for 66 yards and a touchdown while seeing plenty of cloud coverage his way. Johnson, meanwhile, has enjoyed seeing a lot of single matchups, catching 16 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown, being a volume receiver for Pittsburgh outside of last week’s contest against the Packers where he only caught one pass for 17 yards.
Teams have opted to take away the big play threat of Pickens in recent weeks and allow Johnson to beat them underneath and in the intermediate portions of the field. We will see if Cleveland continues this trend of attempting to neutralize Pittsburgh’s biggest playmaker who gashed them the last time the two squared off, or if Johnson will pull enough attention away from Pickens for him to get loose against against the Cleveland secondary. Either way, having both in the lineup is great for Pickett as this passing game has the weapons to attack a talented Browns’ defense through the air as they look to go 2-0 against their AFC North rival.
