It’s been a long time since I can remember a victory by the Pittsburgh Steelers being the second most talked about thing from the game. With all of the positives that came out of the win in Cincinnati, the majority of the conversation continues to center around Diontae Johnson and his lack of effort on one particular play. Because so many fans today struggle to be objective – largely because they have favorite players and can’t admit when they do something questionable – we have to take a two-pronged approach here.
What Is Absolutely Clear
If I’ve heard it once I’ve heard it a million times in the last 48 hours. “All receivers take plays off.” First of all, I’m not sure you can ever say “all” because there are some guys who just have too much pride and work too hard to get to the NFL to take a play off, but in general, I agree with the statement. In regards to Johnson however there’s a massive issue. When a wideout ‘takes a play off’ it is typically when the ball is going to the opposite side of the field. In Johnson’s case, the run finished just a few feet from him. Thus, it was not the time to be resting.
His lack of effort on the play is inexcusable. If Mike Tomlin is going to continue bashing us over the head with “The Standard is the Standard,” then how in the hell is he going to explain this? Johnson literally takes a couple of steps forward and doesn’t even come close to engaging the defensive back he should be blocking. As they say in replay reviews, the video evidence is indisputable.
Where It Gets a Tad Murky
Before the ball is even out of the hands of Jaylen Warren, Johnson has already turned his back and is moving towards the Steelers’ sideline. Once the commotion of the fumble starts, Johnson turns to see what is happening. I’ll give him this much; if he thought the play was over and therefore a fumble couldn’t have happened then I can buy the argument that he just didn’t know. But then the other part of this issue comes into play.
Johnson clearly sees his teammates start pursuing the Bengals’ defender who has the ball. Mason Cole runs right past Johnson in an effort to track the player down. In Johnson’s defense, there are other players who seem frozen. Isaac Seumalo for one looks very disinterested at the thought of running down anyone. So can I buy Johnson being caught off guard? Sure, I can buy that to an extent.
In all of us there is a thing called ‘fight or flight.’ We either run towards danger or run from it to be blunt. In this case, I have no idea what Johnson was thinking. Wouldn’t he at some point realize what was happening and think “Holy shit! I better go help my teammates tackle this guy?” I guess not because his body never shows even for one second any sort of urgency. Thankfully, Connor Heyward never gave up on the play and made the tackle.
I tend to believe that Johnson would have been given a lot more grace in this situation had he not had a series of other ‘not so positive moments’ amid his history of drops and running the wrong way. Pittsburghers can be forgiving but they also appreciate more than anything an honest work ethic. I don’t think anyone questions Johnson’s hard work in regards to his craft, but what he displayed on just one play on Sunday isn’t likely to be forgotten anytime soon.
I also wonder what his teammates think of what happened. Some probably have no problem with it while others have to wonder just what his level of commitment is. All of the above in mind, this has been a bad look for Diontae Johnson.
