Pittsburgh Steelers: Studs and duds from Week 1 vs. Giants

Stud: QB Ben Roethlisberger

When the veteran performer took the field on Monday night at MetLife Stadium against the New York Giants, there had to be a reminder that the prolific passer had not played football in basically a calendar year. And while Steelers’ quarterback Roethlisberger was rusty in the early going, the savvy pro began to warm up midway through the second quarter.

He led the team to a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, connecting on scores to JuJu Smith-Schuster (10 yards) and James Washington (13 yards). He later found the latter once again in the fourth quarter, this time from eight yards out. All told, Roethlisberger hit on 21-of-32 throws for 229 yards and three scores.

Dud: WR Diontae Johnson

What an up and down night for the second-year pro, who comes off a season in which he led the club with 59 receptions and five touchdown grabs. Johnson’s evening got off to a rough start when he muffed a punt deep in Pittsburgh territory. The Giants recovered at the Steelers’ three-yard-line and set up a New York field goal.

Johnson was target a game-high 10 times by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger but caught only six passes for 57 yards. To his credit, he seemed to settle down after a very rough start. And three of those six receptions came during the team’s final touchdown drive in the final quarter. Perhaps it was just a case of nerves for the 2019 third-round pick.