Flavell's Five Thoughts: Start Sculpting Cam Heyward's Hall of Fame Bust
The Pittsburgh Steelers have a flair for the dramatic.
After being down 17, they roared all the way back to tie the game at 34. Chris Boswell put them ahead 37-34 before Justin Herbert tossed a pass to Mike Williams for a long touchdown that ended the game.
There was no lack of effort from the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger, who threw for 287 yards and three touchdowns. They gave it everything they had but eventually fell prey to Los Angeles.
A lot happened in between the opening kickoff and the final kneel down, so it's time to discuss. Let's begin.
Diontae Johnson Blossoming Into Elite Territory
It's so much fun to watch Johnson play football. Dare I say he reminds me more and more of Antonio Brown with each passing game?
Some of the catches and adjustments he makes on throws his way are ridiculous. His ability to move after the catch is top-notch. The catch along the sidelines where he drew pass interference followed up by the insane catch he made on the fade route for the touchdown was a crazy sequence.
You've got to respect the adjustments Johnson has made. Last season, he dropped way too many passes in crucial moments of games. This season, Johnson has been credited with one drop the entire year. He's been a major safety blanket for Roethlisberger and the offense.
Johnson's name does not come up amongst the league's top receivers when those names are discussed. I'm not placing him on the Davante Adams or DeAndre Hopkins level quite yet. However, he's quickly sneaking into the top 10-15 in the league.
Defense Shredded as Injuries Pile Up
The Steelers' defense got eaten up by Justin Herbert and company. Herbert did whatever he wanted with passes knowing that some of the Steelers' biggest defensive playmakers were out.
Without TJ Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Joe Haden, it was evident how badly they were all missed.
Herbert found open receivers all night long to the tune of 382 yards. He even ran for almost 100 yards. Yes, Justin Herbert ran for nearly 100 yards. Austin Ekeler tried his best Jonathan Taylor impression with four touchdowns of his own.
Unfortunately, not much could have been expected from this unit as most of the players were nearly as unrecognizable as they were invisible.
Play Calling Continues to be Head Scratcher
After watching Mason Rudolph drop back to pass 50 times last week, the Steelers' play-calling seemed to follow suit again in this one.
On multiple occasions in the red zone, the Steelers had a goal-to-go situation and refused to run the football. The most egregious offense was after the blocked punt by Miles Killebrew.
At the five-yard line, the Steelers had three plays to punch it in. Not one time, even with rookie stud Najee Harris, did they attempt to run the ball. They did not score.
However, they got bailed out on a pass interference call on third down, which was immediately followed by a one-yard rushing touchdown by Najee Harris to cut the deficit to seven. Funny how that works.
Devin Bush…Yikes
Many of you will remember that the Steelers paid a big premium to move up and draft Devin Bush in 2019. Dubbed as the potential replacement to Ryan Shazier, Bush has been nothing but the utter opposite since coming back from injury.
Bush went through major knee surgery. That's understood. But he truly has been awful since returning. It's to a point where he's even a borderline roster player at this point.
Obviously, it's highly unlikely the Steelers would get rid of Bush because of the premium they paid. However, they can't afford to run him out there and be a spectator on the field. If that's the case, he can spectate from the bench.
Start Making Heyward's Hall of Fame Bust
This is a weekly occurrence. Cam Heyward, the lone star left on defense, made the biggest play of the night.
Herbert threw a bullet trying to complete a pass downfield and Heyward got in the way of it. The ball careened off of him up into the air and into the hands of Cam Sutton inside the red zone.
Heyward just makes a play week after week and did so again this week to give the Steelers a chance to tie the game and not allow the Chargers to bleed out the clock.
Make sure you bookmark All Steelers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!
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