The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered an extremely embarrassing loss at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13. Not only did they lose to a team that was 2-10, but they got destroyed. The offense could not get anything going once second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett went down with an ankle injury on the Steelers' last meaningful drive of the first half. Mitch Trubisky came in for Pickett and led a scoring drive in garbage time for the Steelers, which finished with him throwing a touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson. Johnson then embarrassed the team by celebrating the touchdown, despite still being down by a large sum.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson catches a pass against the Arizona Cardinals in a Week 13 regular season game.
Steelers' Johnson Has Pathetic Celebration Down Two Scores
One of the few bright spots for the Steelers in their Week 13 loss to the Cardinals came on a 75-yard touchdown drive at the end of the game. It was a nice looking drive, but it didn't matter since they were down 24-3 with not a lot of time left in the game. The touchdown made it a 14-point game with just above four minutes left. Realistically, Pittsburgh had no chance to come back and win. The touchdown was scored when Trubisky fired a two-yard pass to Johnson for his second touchdown of the season.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' Diontae Johnson celebrates a touchdown despite being down by multiple possessions late in a game.
The touchdown and drive all together was nice and gave the Steelers something positive to build off of as they enter a short week. They'll get ready to play the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football in Week 14. However, Johnson did what seemed to be a choreographed touchdown celebration despite being down by two touchdowns and having no chance to win the game. His fellow receiver, George Pickens, also got involved with the celebration.
Both of these receivers have been scrutinized by fans and the national media quite a bit during the 2023 season. Pickens had a meltdown during the Steelers' Week 9 victory over the Tennessee Titans, and then deleted all of his pictures involving the Steelers off of social media, unfollowing the team's account and some of his teammates in the process. Johnson has been ridiculed for some dropped passes this season, as well as his pathetic effort in Week 12 against the Cincinnati Bengals when he didn't even try to recover a fumble by Jaylen Warren.
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Steelers wide receiver, Diontae Johnson (#18) stands on the field at St. Vincent College with his hands on his hips during a 2022 team training camp practice in Latrobe, PA.
Deciding to celebrate a touchdown while being down multiple possessions is an absolutely pathetic move. The team had no chance to win the game at that point in the contest, and deciding to celebrate really just showed how self-centered Johnson might be. In addition to this pathetic move, and his poor effort in Week 12, he also reportedly got into a fight with Minkah Fitzpatrick following the Steelers' loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 11.
His recent behavior has many Steelers fans calling for the organization to find a way to move on from the receiver following the 2023 season, although he is under contract until the end of the 2024 season. He has roughly just over a $16 million cap hit in 2023 and just over a $15 million cap hit in 2024. So, depending on how and if the team moves on from him, they could save themselves some cap space to make other moves.
Despite Johnson's at times embarrassing behavior, he is still an effective receiver. He finished the game against the Cardinals with four receptions for 33 yards and the one touchdown. He has been a reliable target for Pickett, and is one of the better route runners in the NFL. However, Johnson needs to clean up his behavior if he plans on being in Pittsburgh for a long time.
What did you think about Johnson celebrating the touchdown at the end of the game? Let us know in the comments below!
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