After celebrating with his teammates in the end zone, Johnson could be seen on the broadcast throwing his hands up in the air, as if to say “Finally!”
The Titans had two more opportunities to score, but after their defense held strong on both drives, the Steelers came away with the win, moving to 5-3 on the back of Johnson’s streak-breaking score.
Johnson was by no means invisible during his scoring drought, playing in all 17 of the Steelers’ games in 2022 and recording 882 receiving yards to lead all Pittsburgh receivers. While he’s missed four games while on injured reserve this season, Johnson has recorded games of 79, 85, and now 90 yards receiving since returning from his hamstring injury in Week 7. That makes him the first Steelers player with 75-plus receiving yards in three consecutive games since he did it in 2021, per NFL Research.
He just hadn’t been able to find the end zone, a conundrum which Johnson said has continually frustrated him throughout the last two seasons, even if he tried not to focus on it.
“It was tough,” Johnson said. “I was not trying to think about it but at the same time it’s like, OK, I’ve got to figure out if I’ve got to do something different, certain routes or whatever it was, but just being myself and not pressing each and every week, just letting the ball find me, just keep getting open, and that’s what happened.”
Now, with the Steelers back in the win column with a long weekend ahead before facing the Green Bay Packers, Johnson will continue the work to ensure he and Pickett can connect on more touchdowns ASAP, instead of having to wait another 668 days.