(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
The Chiefs put an end to the Steelers' 2021 season on Sunday night, as they blew out Pittsburgh, 42-21, in the wild-card round game. The Steelers scored first thanks to a 26-yard scoop-and-score by T.J. Watt, but it was all down hill after that as the Chiefs scored touchdowns on six consecutive drives.
The Steelers' offense didn't get anything going until garbage time in the fourth quarter. It was the sixth time in the last seven games that the offense didn't score a first-half touchdown.
A lot fans and media members are pointing the fingers at offensive coordinator Matt Canada for this, and it appears even Diontae Johnson is, as well.
"Certain things weren’t going our way," Johnson said when asked about what went wrong in the first half. "Certain play calls, we just weren’t getting that we wanted to get the offense going. We can only do what we’re told to do at the end of the day."
Johnson had an awful game against the Chiefs, as he had two drops, one of which came on third-and-2. He also had a false start penalty and had some miscommunication with Ben Roethlisberger on a deep ball where he stopped on the route. It was just a flat-out brutal game for Johnson. So, Johnson was part of the problem of things not going the Steelers way.
Johnson touched on the two drops when he spoke with the media on Monday.
"I wouldn't just pinpoint one thing," Johnson said. "Like I said, people are going to drop the ball. I'm not perfect. I'm not going to sit up here and act like I'm perfect. I just go out there
and play football. There's a lot of emotions going on in the game. Sometimes you drop the ball. Big deal. Bounce back from it, make another play. That's what I did. I was able to get in the end zone and still make a couple plays after the two drops that I had. Even when I did drop the ball, this year, I've shown that I can respond in a positive manner. And that's what I've been doing.
"A lot of people talk about that, but they don't notice…I feel that's the main thing they focus on is the drops. But they don't see all the good stuff that I've been doing throughout the whole season. It's like, why do you continue to focus on that when I'm still continuing to contribute and put points on the board and have all these catches in the game throughout the season. The best of the best are going to drop the ball. I'm only human. I'm going to drop the ball again throughout my career. All I can do is just keep on working."
Johnson has been taking a lot of heat on social media for his poor performance, and it got to him, as he sent a couple of tweets back to fans.
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