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It was there.
Ben Roethlisberger threw the ball to Diontae Johnson in front of Anthony Averett as he crossed into the end zone.
It should have been a touchdown for the Steelers, who needed a spark after a half of stagnant offense.
The ball glanced off Johnson's fingertips as Averett dove at his ankles and bounced to the turf as Johnson landed face first in the yellow G of the Pittsburgh painted in the Heinz Field end zone. After Johnson's first drop of the season, the Steelers had to settle for a field goal instead of tying the Ravens.
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It was the kind of mistake that would have killed Johnson a year ago. An error could have ruined his confidence.
Johnson responded with two second-half touchdown catches, cementing his status as a No. 1 wide receiver and keeping the Pittsburgh Steelers' playoff hopes alive.
Roethlisberger said that Johnson is a special talent and that he scored a 5-yard game-winning touchdown. The touchdown that he didn't catch is the bigger thing. He does not enter the tank. He makes plays when he comes back.
He was able to bounce back and make plays for us after a rough start to his football career.
The third-round pick was benched for most of the first half of the game against the Bills after two first-quarter drops. He dropped more than any other player in 2020 and twice as many as the next closest one.
The Minnesota Vikings are playing Thursday night. Johnson has one drop. He's one of 12 players with at least 100 targets, and he's tied with the Bills' Stefon Diggs and Packers' Davante Adams for the fewest drops. Johnson leads the team with 912 yards and six touchdown.
Smith-Schuster, who has been on the injured reserve since October, said that he is a No. 1. He is playing like a top player. Ben has a go-to guy. I like to see it. I like to see him score. I like to see him do a dance. I like to see us win.
Diontae Johnson has developed into a top wide receiver because of his ability to catch the ball and overcome mistakes.
Johnson was on the field over an hour before the game started because of a knee injury.
Lou Balde stood behind Johnson.
As Johnson looked at Balde, the assistant threw a football over his shoulder, twisting it in his hands to add a little spin. The ball was thrown back to Johnson after he made the catch. The pair worked on the drill together.
Balde is often the mastermind behind drills to help Johnson work on his catches and hand-eye coordination.
Johnson said they were going to try and get some extra work in. He comes up with the drills half the time. That has been showing.
Johnson was putting in extra work at his Florida home before he returned for his third training camp. He bought a tennis ball machine for his house and started catching tennis balls to improve his hand-eye coordination.
Johnson said he was trying to catch the ball at different angles. The ball is not going to be perfect every time. You focus on the tennis ball because it is a smaller surface. It comes easy once I get the football going.
Balde throws the tennis balls to the machine when he comes back to Pittsburgh from Florida. Other players are paying attention.
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Minkah Fitzpatrick said that he inspired her to do more work after practice. He catches a lot of passes with tennis balls. I started doing the same thing. I was not catching as well as I could. He challenged me to take that extra step, and I feel like he helped me too.
A small group of Johnson's teammates, including Chase Claypool and Cody White, stayed late to catch extra passes after Tuesday's practice.
Johnson said that he would let his work do the talking and whoever followed him would follow him. I will keep leading by example, making plays down the field, doing extra drills, whoever wants to come out there and do extra work with me, let's be great together.
Diontae Johnson scored twice in the second half to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Johnson tapes up his opponent's scouting report in his locker at the beginning of each week. It was a suggestion from Balde.
Johnson likes to see who he is going up against. When a corner stays on one receiver, they play right or left. I like to know who the backups are. I will know what to expect if one of them goes down.
Johnson is attracting the attention of the league's top corners.
Before the Ravens game, he studied the tendencies of the opposing defensive back, and it paid off when he shook him with the help of Pat Freiermuth, a crisp route and a quick change of direction to free him up for the game-winning touchdown.
Johnson said that there were no safeties. There was no coverage. They do that a lot. I knew we would run a short route a lot. In that situation, he likes to go over the top. I was able to open because of the traffic.
In the second half of the win over the Ravens, Johnson caught 7 of 8 targets for 91 yards, after catching just 1 of 3 in the first half. In the second half, Johnson averaged 4.3 yards of separation, a significant increase from the first half.
Roethlisberger described Johnson's ability to get out of breaks. It is quick. I don't know many people that can stop him from running his route and putting his foot in the ground for the second touchdown. We put the play in because of that. The best way to stop him is to hold him, because we put plays in for him to do those things.
Johnson had the most separation on a Roethlisberger touchdown this season, when he had 10.0 yards of separation on his first score.
Diontae Johnson is off the field right now. Johnson, who is inactive with a knee injury, has been mostly stationary catching passes.
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September 26, 2021.
Johnson averages 3.09 yards of separation, good for sixth among the 12 receivers with at least 100 targets.
With his speed and improved hands, Johnson is playing his way into either a second contract or a big pay day when he hits free agency in 2023. He's the key to the playoff push for the Steelers because of the drops behind him.
It's reasonable to expect him to get better physically, and to get better intellectually, because he's becoming a veteran. Being able to survive the ups and downs of a game or a series is important. I don't think anyone is surprised by his growth and development. We needed it and we expected it.
