https://triblive.com/sports/dionate-johnson-named-afc-special-teams-player-of-the-week/
Steelers' Diontae Johnson named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week
The best game of Diontae Johnson’s young career earned him his first NFL award.
Johnson was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week Wednesday, three days after his 85-yard punt return for a touchdown helped propel the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 23-17 win at the Arizona Cardinals.
Mike Tomlin likes #18. Showtime with Tomlin mic’ed up for the first #Steelers punt return in 4 years as Diontae Johnson provides 85 yards of splash pic.twitter.com/zPFqWRLa8e— Bob Pompeani (@KDPomp) December 11, 2019
The 85 yards was a franchise record for a touchdown on a punt return and second-longest in team history for a punt return overall. Brady Keys returned a punt 90 yards in 1964, but he came up short of the end zone.
Sunday’s performance came during a game in which Johnson also had 76 yards from scrimmage (60 receiving on six catches plus a 16-yard rush) and a touchdown reception.
The punt return for a touchdown was the Steelers’ first since Antonio Brown on Dec. 6, 2015.
Johnson, a rookie, is averaging 12.6 yards on his 13 punt returns, the most in the NFL for any player with at least five punt returns this season.
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