WATCH: Diontae Johnson scores the go-ahead touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson has been one of Ben Roethlisberger’s favorite targets over the past few seasons. Today was no different against the Baltimore Ravens, as Roethlisberger hit Johnson for a five-yard touchdown pass to put the Steelers ahead of the Ravens 18-13 with 1:48 remaining in the game.
Pittsburgh also scored the two-point conversion to make the score 20-13 with 1:48 remaining in the contest.
Watch it below as Johnson fights through Ravens’ defensive back Marlon Humphrey near the goal line for the score.
It was a huge play by Johnson in one of the biggest rivalries in the NFL and it helped propel the Steelers to the victory in the end. The touchdown score was Johnson’s second on the afternoon and he could have had three touchdowns but dropped the other one earlier in the game. He pulled in eight catches for 105 receiving yards and two touchdowns on the day.
The Pittsburgh Steelers ended up winning the game in a thriller, 20-19.
After Johnson’s touchdown catch above, the Ravens marched right back down the field and Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson led his team on a 8-play, 60-yard scoring drive that took only 1:36 to finish.
Jackson found his receiver, Sammy Watkins, on a 6-yard touchdown pass to make the score 20-19 with 12 seconds left in the game. Baltimore then went for the two-point conversion. Lamar Jackson threw an incomplete pass to his tight end, Mark Andrews, a few yards away from the goal line and the game was over.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh explained his reasoning for going for two after the game, saying his team had too many injuries in the secondary.
Check out the tweet below.
As for Johnson, he had himself a big-time afternoon for the Steelers.
Check out the 29-yard touchdown catch Johnson had earlier in the game when he was left wide open by the Ravens secondary.
It was like Diontae Johnson didn’t even exist to the Baltimore Ravens secondary on that play. Man, he was wide, wide open.
Johnson has been a target funnel for Big Ben the past few years
The former Toledo standout has been fed targets by Roethlisberger whenever the two players are on the field together and there’s definitely been an undeniable on-the-field chemistry between the two players. If any player on the Steelers is going to miss Roethlisberger once he retires at the end of the 2021 season, it’s Johnson.
Coming into today’s game against the Ravens, he had snatched 68 catches for 809 receiving yards, while hauling in four receiving touchdowns. Once again, he’s been a target vacuum for Roethlisberger, commanding double digit targets in nine games so far in the 2021 season.
Johnson and the Steelers will look to continue their winning ways next on Thursday, Dec. 9 against the Minnesota Vikings.