GLENDALE, Ariz. -- As he often does -- more on that later -- Joe Haden had a feeling.
And typically, when Haden has a feeling about something, it usually works out well for the Steelers.
In this case, Haden had a feeling rookie receiver Diontae Johnson was going to bounce back from a tough outing last week in a win at Heinz Field over the Browns.
"He’s a pro, and we believe in him. He keeps coming out and practicing hard. He tries to get better each and every week," Haden said. "That’s something he’s been able to do. He definitely snapped back. I expected this kind of game."
"This kind of game," as Haden called it, was easily the best of the third-round pick's rookie season. Johnson caught six passes for 60 yards and a touchdown, had a 16-yard run and returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown as the Steelers won for the seventh time in their past eight games, beating the Cardinals here at State Farm Stadium, 23-17, before a rabid crowd of 63,880, most of whom were wearing black and gold.
"It was really just another blow for team," Mike Tomlin proclaimed as his team improved its record to 8-5 and stayed firmly in control of their playoff hopes. "It was a collaborative effort. It took plays in all three phases. Obviously, it was far from perfect. We had mistakes in all three phases, but that's life, particularly in this game at this level."
It might have been a collaboration, but it was Johnson who had a hand in two of those phases.
He didn't have a catch on the Steelers' opening drive -- a 66-yard field goal drive that led to a 3-0 lead -- but he quickly impacted things after that.
The Steelers forced a punt on Arizona's second possession after a three-and-out and Johnson fielded an Andy Lee punt at his own 15, made the initial man miss, reversed his field and then scooted up the sideline in front of a stunned Cardinals bench for an 85-yard touchdown.
"I have to give the credit to my special teams guys," said Johnson, who took over punt return duties when Ryan Switzer was placed on injured reserve with a back injury. "We were talking about how the punter likes to (outkick) his coverage. It gives me a lot of space to take advantage of. I saw it. My guys were blocking really good."
They blocked it so well, had this been a two-hand touch game, Johnson still scores.
"It feels good. I was able to give the team momentum off that one play," said Johnson of the Steelers' first punt return for a score since Antonio Brown did it in 2015. "That took over the whole game. We were able to continue to put points on the board while helping the defense out."
That 10-point cushion looked like it might be enough with the way the defense was playing early. But the Cardinals scored the game's next 10 points, using a quick-paced attack, to tie things up.
First, they drove to the Pittsburgh 3 before Minkah Fitzpatrick stopped Kyler Murray for a loss on a quarterback keeper and Vince Williams recorded a sack to force a field goal.
Then, on their next possession, the Cardinals drove 85 yards, with Murray finding tight end Charles Clay for a 5-yard touchdown catch to tie the game at 10-10 with 1:56 left in the half.
That would be plenty of time for Devlin "Duck" Hodges to get the Steelers back into scoring position, as he completed 3 of 4 passes -- two to Johnson -- and scrambled 22 yards to set up a 37-yard Chris Boswell field goal that gave the Steelers a 13-10 halftime lead.
The Steelers failed to score on their opening possession of the second half and it appeared the Cardinals might tie or take the lead as they drove from their own 39 to the Pittsburgh 26 using their quick, short passing game that was negating the Steelers' pass rush.
But on second-and-5 from the 26, Haden took matters into his own hands -- literally.
"I looked back and told the safety, if No. 2 (receiver) runs an out route, I’m jumping it," Haden said. "You go get No. 1 (receiver). He ran the route. I was like, ‘If he throws it, it’s mine.’"
Prophetic.
The Steelers drove from their own 27 for a 2-yard touchdown pass from Hodges to Johnson that gave them a 20-10 lead.
The touchdown pass was a perfect throw and great route, something Johnson said he and Hodges have been working on.
What they hadn't worked on was what Johnson did immediately before catching his touchdown pass. That play, well it defies explanation. We'll let Johnson describe what happened after he caught what should have been a simple wide receiver screen but turned into a 14-yard gain to the Arizona 2 with the receiver running approximately 75 yards.
"It was kind of a broken play. James (Washington) tried to block, but there were like three people over there," Johnson said. "He did his best but I was able to see open field across the field. I was able to get the first down. We put points on the board."
The touchdown pass was the only offensive touchdown of the game for the Steelers, who controlled the clock, running for 140 yards -- their third consecutive game with 100 or more rushing yards -- and making things easy for Hodges, who was efficient. Hodges completed 16 of 19 passes for 152 yards and scrambled five times for 34 yards, becoming the first undrafted rookie quarterback in NFL history to win his first three starts.
"I heard a lot of people talking about it this week and in my mind, I was like, 'Well, I guess I need to be the first undrafted QB to do that so we can win this week," Hodges said. "My job is to win the game each and every week, and that's what I want to do. That's all I am worried about."
The Cardinals weren't finished, though, despite being down 20-10 heading into the fourth quarter.
Murray, the No. 1 pick in this year's draft, maneuvered them to the Pittsburgh 6 and instead of kicking a field goal to make it a one-score game, first-year head coach Kliff Kingsbury decided to try to convert fourth-and-2 from the Pittsburgh 6.
Murray, who entered the game leading the Cardinals in rushing but was held to 2 yards on six carries, appeared to have open space to run for the first down after drifting to his right. Instead, he threw the ball.
Big mistake.
T.J. Watt followed his eyes. And though Watt had his consecutive games with a sack streak ended at nine, he recorded his second interception of the season.
"I was in coverage, so it was just a matter of if I wanted to step up in contain, but I knew he wanted to throw," Watt said. "He's a throw-first quarterback and then run second, so I just didn't want to bite the cheese and let him throw it right behind me."
That could have sealed things. It probably should have sealed things.
But the Steelers had one more trick up their sleeves -- or at least thought they did.
After picking up a first down, they lined up to punt from their own 40. Instead, Jordan Berry ran a fake that the Cardinals -- at least two of them -- sniffed out.
Berry fumbled and the Cardinals took over at the Pittsburgh 32.
Three plays later, Murray threw his second touchdown pass, this one to running back David Johnson just over the outstretched arms of safety Terrell Edmunds to make it 20-17 with 6:44 remaining in the game.
The fake punt and touchdown could have proved a serious blow if the Steelers offense didn't do something. But Hodges and Johnson had other things in mind.
Johnson gained 16 yards on a Wildcat handoff from Jaylen Samuels. Then, later on the possession, he and Hodges converted a third-and-13 from the Arizona 26 just before the two-minute warning.
It was a great adjustment from both rookies, with Hodges stepping up in the pocket and moving to his left, and Johnson reading his quarterback and coming back to the ball:
"Usually, a quarterback is not supposed to throw across their body," Hodges said. "That's usually not a good thing. It was just one of those things that Johnson came wide open and I knew I could throw it and get the first down."
Johnson said he was just doing what he's been coached to do.
"It’s just the scramble rule," the rookie said. "If you see him roll out of the pocket, our job is to just get open and give him options to throw to instead of taking the hit. I was able to get the first down and keep us on the field."
They did that, forcing the Cardinals to burn their remaining timeouts before sending Boswell out for a 25-yard field goal and a 23-17 lead.
That gave the Cardinals 1:42 to navigate the length of the field for a touchdown. Tomlin called his defensive front together on the sideline.
"The last series, Coach Tomlin put the pressure on us and told us to go out and change the game," Bud Dupree said. "We all went out there with that on our shoulders. Yeah, he didn’t have to put the pressure on us. We just wanted to go out there and do it."
Cam Heyward sacked Murray on first down. Dupree got him on second down. Murray then threw incomplete to Larry Fitzgerald on third down, setting up fourth down from the Arizona 18.
Haden finished things off, jumping in front of Christian Kirk for his second interception of the game and third in the past two games.
"We feel like we’re in a position for the defense to close it out, we’ve got the guys," Haden said. "We feel like if they put it in our hands, we can do it, no matter what happens."
And now, it's back home for the Steelers with a chance to face the Bills (9-4) and the possibility of moving up a spot in the AFC hierarchy with a win over Buffalo next Sunday night in the team's final regular season game at Heinz Field.
The Steelers didn't spend much time celebrating this win. They were getting ready for what Tomlin continually called a "five-star matchup" as he walked through the locker room after this game.
"We're just focused on Buffalo," Tomlin said. "That's probably why we're here. We don't care about three games (remaining). We have a big five-star matchup at Heinz Field Sunday night. We're excited about it."
And they'll need someone else perhaps -- or even Johnson again -- to be the catalyst.
"Heck of a punt return and then that touchdown," Hodges said of Johnson. "I think I told him on the sideline, 'Man, you got a lot of fantasy points this week.' He stepped up big and we're going to have to have guys step up each and every week."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE DATA
• The Steelers outgained the Cardinals, 275-236. It marked the seventh time this season that they have held an opponent under 300 yards.
• Mark Barron, Steven Nelson and Edmunds each had seven tackles to lead the Steelers.
• Dupree had three tackles for a loss.
• The Steelers were penalized just four times for 20 yards. The Cardinals had seven for 75 yards.
• The Steelers rushed for 140 yards -- their third consecutive game over 100 yards. They have averaged 141 rushing yards in the past three games.
• The Steelers clinched their 16th consecutive season with a .500 record or better, which is the second-longest active streak in the NFL (New England), and the longest streak in team history (1972-1984, 13).
• The Steelers' 66 yards on their opening drive of the game was more than they had in their previous 12 games combined (59). The Steelers had scored just three points on their opening possessions of a game this season, adding a field goal to that total against the Cardinals.
• Johnson's punt return touchdown was the second-longest in team history. The longest punt return was a 90-yard punt return by Brady Keys at New York Giants on Sept. 20, 1964.
• Haden's two-interception game was the third game of his career with multiple interceptions. He now has 26 in his career, the fourth most of any player since 2010.
• Johnson is the first Steelers rookie to record both a receiving and punt return touchdown in the same game since Louis Lipps did it in 1984.
• The Steelers' five sacks give them 48 on the season, seven short of the team record. They have 35 sacks at home and 13 on the road this season.
THE INJURIES
• Vance McDonald (concussion, DNR)
• James Conner (shoulder, DNP)
• JuJu Smith-Schuster (DNP)
THE SCHEDULE
The Steelers (8-5) head home for their final game of the season at Heinz Field, barring something miraculous in the postseason. Their opponent? The 9-4 Bills for a game that could determine the fifth and sixth seeds in the AFC playoffs. The team is off Monday. Tomlin will hold his weekly press conference Tuesday at noon. I'll have all of the coverage.
THE COVERAGE
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MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers at Cardinals, Glendale, Ariz., Dec. 8, 2019 -- MATT SUNDAY / DKPS
