5 things we learned: Steelers could use a hand to help out WR Diontae Johnson

Five things we learned from Steelers 20, Titans 16:

1. One man gang

Diontae Johnson’s touchdown catch with 4 minutes, 2 seconds remaining continued his run of strong performances since he was activated from injured reserve when the Steelers returned from their bye to face Los Angeles.

It’s a nice story, how Johnson found the end zone for the first time in 669 days, ending a regular-season scoreless drought that extended to Jan. 3, 2022. It also overshadowed an ongoing issue that continues to impact the Steelers.

Since Johnson’s return, particularly over the past two games, the Steelers haven’t been able to get consistency from a secondary receiver. Or, for that matter, from starter George Pickens.

Pickens benefited from Johnson’s return against the Los Angeles Rams when he had five receptions for 107 yards. But the numbers have dropped off a clip the past two games when Jacksonville and Tennessee gave Pickens extra attention.

His one catch for a 22-yard touchdown Sunday was groundbreaking considering he had just two catches for minus-1 yard against the Titans. Pickens cost himself a touchdown when he failed to get his second foot inbounds on what would have been a 12-yard completion. The Steelers ended up settling for a Chris Boswell field goal.

The Steelers haven’t gotten any consistency, either, from their third and fourth receivers since the break. Calvin Austin has two catches for 19 yards, both coming against Jacksonville. Allen Robinson also has two receptions totaling 17 yards.

Tight end Pat Freiermuth can’t return from injured reserve soon enough. He’s eligible after the Steelers’ game against Green Bay next Sunday. In his absence, Connor Heyward has caught nine passes for 63 yards. Darnell Washington has one catch for 7 yards.

Johnson, meantime, has 20 catches for 254 yards and a touchdown over the past three games. Quite the disparity.

2. Meeting his match

Just a few days earlier, DeAndre Hopkins had his way with the Atlanta Falcons’ secondary, catching four passes for 128 yards and scoring three touchdowns in a 28-23 win.

The Steelers were determined not to let Hopkins be a security blanket for rookie quarterback Will Levis in his second career start. Thus, they asked rookie corner Joey Porter Jr. to undertake his biggest assignment to date.

Not only would Porter be starting for the second time in his career, but he would also be tasked with shadowing Hopkins. Mission accomplished. Hopkins was targeted 11 times by Levis yet finished with four catches for 60 yards. Pretty pedestrian numbers compared to the havoc he wreaked against Atlanta.

According to Pro Football Focus, Porter was matched up against Hopkins five times. In those encounters, Hopkins had one catch for 17 yards.

3. Clock strikes midnight

After his NFL debut in which he threw four touchdown passes, Levis had the type of buzz in Nashville that usually is reserved for country music stars. The music stopped, however, for Levis in the second half at Acrisure Stadium.

Consider that in the first half, Levis tore up the Steelers defense for 153 yards by completing 12 of 17 passes. He orchestrated a touchdown drive and positioned the Titans for a late field goal that gave the Titans a 13-10 lead at intermission.

Levis couldn’t recapture that magic in the second half. He completed 10 of 22 attempts for 109 yards and threw the last-second interception to Kwon Alexander in the end zone that sealed the Steelers’ victory. After compiling a healthy 98.4 passer rating in the first half, he registered a 41.7 score in the second.

Although Levis passed for 102 more yards than Kenny Pickett, he finished with a 66.4 rating. Thanks to another fourth-quarter comeback, Pickett finished at 88.2.

4. Seeing yellow

Referee John Hussey’s crew entered the game with a reputation for tossing penalty flags, and his group failed to disappoint. Setting the tone early, flags were thrown five times against the Steelers on the Titans’ first possession. Four were accepted, extending the Titans’ field-goal drive to 14 plays.

Three of those flags were against Porter (two accepted), and that was before he was slapped with a holding penalty on fourth down when the Titans were trying to retake the lead in the waning moments of the game.

Overall, the Steelers were penalized a season-high 10 times, the infractions costing them 80 yards of real estate. Hussey’s crew also threw plenty of flags that hurt the Titans. Seven penalties were accepted for 51 yards. The most costly was a defensive holding call that gave the Steelers a first down at the Tennessee 3 and set the stage for Johnson’s go-ahead touchdown catch on the next play.

5. Time to shine

In low-scoring games that have been the norm for these Steelers, field position can play an important role in the outcome. Which puts an emphasis on punter Pressley Harvin to do his job consistently well.

That always hasn’t been the case for Harvin in his three seasons with the Steelers, but he was up to the task against Tennessee. Harvin punted four times and had a net average of 48.3 yards, a high water mark for the season.

Three of his punts were downed inside the 20. The other was a 62-yarder that was fielded at the 19 and returned 8 yards.

In a testament to the slight improvement of the offense, Harvin was called on to punt just those four times — representing a season low.