Steelers WR Diontae Johnson catches first TD pass in nearly two years on Thursday night vs. Titans

Diontae Johnson finally got the proverbial monkey off his back. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ former Pro Bowl receiver snapped his streak of games without a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans on Thursday night. Johnson scored for the first time since catching one of Ben Roethlisberger’s final touchdown throws during Pittsburgh’s 2021 wild card playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Johnson’s score came on a three-yard touchdown pass that gave the Steelers the lead with four minutes left to play. 

Johnson had gone 21 consecutive games without scoring a touchdown despite leading Pittsburgh in catches and receiving yards last season. He suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1 but has been the Steelers’ most productive offensive player since returning from that injury two weeks ago. He had five catches for 79 yards in Pittsburgh’s Week 7 win over the Rams and eight grabs for 85 yards in last Sunday’s loss to Jacksonville. 

In defeat, Johnson passed Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes and former teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster for 12th on the franchise’s all-time list for career receiving yards. 

“That’s amazing,” Johnson told CBS Sports when told of him passing Holmes and Smith-Schuster on the franchise all-time list. “It’s big. That just shows that all the work I’ve put in is showing and it’s paying off. Just got to keep working and keep that number growing.” 

A 2006 first-round pick, Holmes is best known for his game-winning catch that helped the Steelers defeat the Cardinals in Pittsburgh’s most recent Super Bowl win. Holmes, who spent four of his nine NFL seasons in Pittsburgh, officially retired as a member of the Steelers in October of 2017. 

A 2019 third-round pick out of Toledo, Johnson was named to his first Pro Bowl in 2021 after leading the Steelers with 107 receptions for 1,161 yards and eight touchdowns. He led the Steelers in catches and yards last season while helping Pittsburgh finish with a 9-8 record after a 2-7 start. 

Following Sunday’s loss to Jacksonville, Johnson said that he is hoping to provide a bigger spark for the Steelers’ offense, which came into Thursday night’s game ranked 29th in the NFL in points scored. Specifically, Johnson said that he and George Pickens making big plays early in games can go a long way in helping the offense get on track. 

“We’ve got to make a play,” he said. “We feed off each other, then everybody starts rolling.”