Pittsburgh Steelers: 3 Bold predictions vs. Ravens, Week 5

1. Diontae Johnson has a career game

I don’t trust Pittsburgh’s passing attack. Last week, 16 of Mason Rudolph‘s 24 pass completions went to running backs. Most of those plays resulted in decent yards after the catch, so the short passes don’t pop out in the box score or in Rudolph’s averages.

Come on though, the Steelers were running the wildcat against the Bengals. The Steelers did everything they could to put the ball in the hands of playmakers, which meant taking Rudolph off of the field at times.

With Rudolph at quarterback, Pittsburgh’s passing game is permanently handcuffed. Even though he’s seeing more double coverages, JuJu Smith-Schuster is better than the three receptions and 15 yards he recorded last week. It seems like Pittsburgh is removing the riskier plays from their offense entirely and resorting to dink and dunk plays to move the ball down the field. That might work against the Bengals, but it won’t do much against the Ravens.

That’s where Johnson comes in. While Smith-Schuster is busy drawing opposing teams’ best defensive backs, Johnson gets easier coverages. He also has great speed and can break into the open field where even Rudolph can’t miss him.

Last week, Johnson set multiple career-highs with six receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown. If the Steelers want to remain competitive with Baltimore’s dominant offense, Johnson will need to have an even bigger game. Look for the Steelers to send him deep or get him into open space often.