Steelers’ Diontae Johnson Seems To Blame The Defense For Embarrassing Week 15 Loss
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The Pittsburgh Steelers couldn’t get anything to go their way in the last three quarters of their Week 15 loss to the Indianapolis Colts after taking a 13-0 lead early on in the game. The Colts went on to score 30 unanswered points and won the game by a score of 30-13. It was a disaster on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, but most fans watching the game know that the offense did not help the defense in any way. Despite this, Diontae Johnson made sure to blame the defense after the game was over.
Steelers’ Johnson Blames The Defense For Week 15 Loss
Johnson was pretty much the only bright spot on the offensive side of the ball for the Steelers as he finished the game with four receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown. Despite his success in the contest, the offense still didn’t perform nearly well enough for him to be throwing shade at the defense. This is exactly what Johnson did following the loss according to the extra point postgame show on KDKA TV.
“Defense is leaking. They’ve got some players down, and it showed on the defense. Offense, we’ve just got to capitalize on third downs and just make plays.”
The Steelers defense is certainly riddled with injuries which has hindered the unit’s effectiveness. Regardless, no matter the circumstances, it is never okay for a professional athlete to call out his teammates on the other side of the ball. This is the case especially when the offense was nonexistent for the last three quarters of the game and turned the ball over on three different occasions.
Overall, the offense had a very poor game. They had one solid drive that resulted in a touchdown for the Steelers, but their second touchdown drive started on the Colts one-yard line and was set up by a blocked punt by Connor Heyward. Even on the drive that started on the edge of the end zone the Steelers got pushed back five yards before Mitch Trubisky threw a touchdown to Johnson. In the second quarter and throughout the rest of the game the Steelers had difficulty converting on third down, giving their defense little time to rest in between possessions.
Trubisky threw two interceptions throughout the game, and Najee Harris fumbled deep in the Steelers own territory to set the Colts up for an easy touchdown. The Steelers defense wasn’t able to get any turnovers during the game, but the Steelers offense turned the ball over far too much for the Steelers defense to be able to keep up.
The Steelers had just 216 yards of total offense throughout the entire game, and they were only able to convert on a third down on four occasions out of 12. Not being able to stay on the field as an offense was a huge detriment for the Steelers defense, as they weren’t able to stay off of the field. The defense was also fighting through many injuries in this game, as Alex Highsmith and TJ Watt were both coming out of concussion protocol.
Other injuries that effected the Steelers defense in this game was a knee injury suffered by Minkah Fitzpatrick in the second quarter, which kept him out for the remainder of the game. In addition to Fitzpatrick’s injury, the Steelers are still without two of their top three inside linebackers as they lost Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander for the rest of the season earlier in the year. Another player that is still missing is Keanu Neal who suffered a rib injury against the Green Bay Packers.
It’s safe to say the Steelers defense is depleted due to injuries, but Johnson can’t throw them under the bus in a post game interview after the offense played such an atrocious game. This is a trend that has continued from the wide receiver as he has shown his bad attitude many times in 2023.
This article first appeared on SteelerNation.com and was syndicated with permission.
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