A tough game to play
Receiver championed by late coach on draft day is key to preseason victory
The Steelers did not let a severe weather delay steal their thunder, not when another rookie took Heinz Field by storm, just as his former position coach hoped he would.
On a night when the Steelers remembered the passing of wide receiver coach Darryl Drake, it was the player he politicked for the team to draft that provided some of the boom Saturday night in their 177 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs.
After a couple of near-misses that included a negated touchdown catch, rookie Diontae Johnson made his Steelers debut an impactful one when he caught a diving 24-yard touchdown from quarterback Devlin Hodges in the fourth quarter to increase the lead to 10 points.
It was Drake who pushed for the Steelers (2-0) to take Johnson in the third round, then delivered a glowing report on the rookie receiver from Toledo moments after he was made the 66th overall selection in the draft. Johnson finished with three catches for 46 yards, but his numbers could
have been even bigger.
Somewhat fitting, it was the Steelers’ first game since Drake died in his dormitory room Aug. 11 at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. The Steelers honored Drake, 62, by wearing a decal with the initials “DD” on their helmet and a moment of silence before the game. His funeral was Saturday in Tennessee.
Meantime, Mason Rudolph made a strong case for becoming the top backup to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger with another strong performance, completing 10 of 15 passes for 77 yards, including 5 for 5 for 60 yards on the only scoring drive of the first half.
Two of those passes went to receiver James Washington, who picked up right where he left off last week with three catches for 73 yards in the first half.
Jaylen Samuels had the only touchdown for the Steelers in the first half, scoring on a 14-yard run around a wide-open left side that gave them a 7-0 lead.
Josh Dobbs, who replaced Rudolph in the second quarter, had several scoring opportunities go awry. He was intercepted at the goal line when he overthrew Johnson near the end of the first half and had a 24-yard touchdown to Johnson negated by an offensive pass interference call on the rookie receiver on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Dobbs finished 6 of 11 for 95 yards. Like last week against Tampa Bay, his first pass against the Chiefs was a 40-yard completion to Washington in the middle of the field. Washington finished with four catches on five targets for 78 yards.
Unlike the preseason opener, when he did not use 18 of his 22 starters, coach Mike Tomlin held out only five of his regulars against the Chiefs — quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, center Maurkice Pouncey and guard David DeCastro on offense and rookie linebacker Devin Bush and cornerback Joe Haden on defense. It also was the first game in a Steelers uniform for two significant additions to the wide receiving corps — Johnson and veteran Donte Moncrief.
The start of the game was delayed by an hour because of a heavy thunderstorm that forced the players off the field and the crowd from the seating area during pregame.
Maybe because of the wet playing surface, the scoreless and sloppy first quarter was highlighted by four fumbles — three by the Steelers. The Chiefs lost one when safety Sean Davis, playing for the first time since sustaining a hand injury, recovered a fumble forced by Terrell Edmunds. But the Steelers gave it back on the next play when Moncrief fumbled after a 3-yard catch at his 48.
The Steelers took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter when Rudolph engineered a masterful 14-play, 89-yard drive that actually started at his 6 after a holding penalty by Alejandro Villanueva. Rudolph was 5 for 5 for 60 yards on the drive that ended with a 14-yard run around the left side by Samuels, who followed guard Matt Feiler and went untouched into the end zone. The drive, which lasted 8 minutes, 6 seconds, was highlighted by back-to-back catches of 22 and 11 yards by Washington, the latter a leaping two-hander along the sideline.
The Chiefs came right back on the ensuing series when quarterback Chad Henne, who replaced starter Patrick Mahomes, threw a 17-yard touchdown to receiver Mecole Hardman over cornerback Mike Hilton to make it 7-7.
The Steelers had a good chance to retake the lead after Hilton atoned for his mistake with a strip-sack on Henne, who fumbled the snap, and linebacker Tuzar Skipper recovered at the Chiefs 38.
Dobbs, who replaced Rudolph on the previous series, threw a 25-yard strike to Eli Rogers on the next play between three defenders. When a defenseless-receiver penalty was called on safety Daniel Sorensen, the Steelers had a first down at the Kansas City 6. But, on the next play, Dobbs overthrew Johnson on a crossing route and cornerback Charvarius Ward returned the interception 49 yards, ending the threat.
The Steelers appeared to take a 14-7 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter when Dobbs threw a 24-yard touchdown to Johnson. But the officials called offensive pass interference on Johnson for appearing to push off cornerback D’Montre Wade outside of the end zone.
The penalty went to a booth review under the NFL’s new rule that allows pass interference calls to be reviewed by replay. But the call on the field was upheld in New York. The Steelers had to settle for a 46-yard field goal by Matthew Wright that gave them a 10-7 lead.