GLENDALE, Ariz. — So the offense manages just one touchdown for the fifth time in the past six games. Oh well. Nobody tells the punter they called off a fake and his fumble leads to an opposing touchdown that cuts the lead to three points. No problem.
Nothing seems to bother the Steelers. They just go out and get their first punt return for touchdown in four years, add three field goals by kicker Chris Boswell, then wait for their defense to do what they have been doing all season.
The Steelers sprinkled in any number of big plays from rookie receiver Diontae Johnson with three second-half interceptions by their larcenous defense to beat the Arizona Cardinals, 23-17, Sunday before a huge towel-waving crowd at State Farm Stadium.
It was the third victory in a row and seventh in the past eight games for the Steelers (8-5), who moved within one game of the No. 5 seed in the AFC after the Buffalo Bills (9-4) lost to the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers and Bills meet Sunday night at Heinz Field.
“We feel we’re on the rise,” said cornerback Joe Haden, who had two interceptions, the final one with 36 seconds remaining to seal the victory. “We definitely feel like we have some good things going. We’re a hungry team, grinding, trying to win every game.”
The Steelers managed only one offensive touchdown for the fifth time in the past six games, but they got an 85-yard punt return for touchdown by Johnson that helped them to a 10-0 lead and three field goals of 30, 37 and 25 yards from Boswell — the final one from 25 yards with 1:42 remaining.
The Cardinals (3-9-1) had one last chance with 1:42 remaining but quarterback Kyler Murray was sacked on back-to-back plays by Cam Heyward and Bud Dupree to start the series and intercepted by Haden on fourth-and-17 from his 18. It was Haden’s third interception in the past two games.
“It’s good, it’s fun, because every game is a battle, every game is a tough one,” safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said. “We keep proving how tight a team we are, how well we finish, how well we fight.”
Early in the season, if the Steelers lost two fumbles that led to 10 points, they would lose the game. Not now. They even overcame a near-disastrous miscommunication in the fourth quarter when a fake punt was called off on the field and nobody got the signal to punter Jordan Berry.
When Berry tried to run with the snap, he was hit so hard by tight end Darrell Daniels and linebacker Dennis Gardeck that he fumbled at his 32. Gardeck recovered and three plays later Murray threw a 24-yard touchdown to running back David Johnson to cut the Steelers lead to 20-17 with 6:44 remaining.
Coach Mike Tomlin took responsibility for the play, saying “It was a call by me, I make the decisions.” But Berry said, “The guys up front called it off and nobody told me. I just tried to make a run for it and I ran straight into some guys. I was planning on getting ready to run up there and they all shot off to go cover and I was like, Aw [expletive].”
But none of that seems to bother this Steelers team. They intercepted Murray three times in the second half — he had thrown only six interceptions in his first 12 games — and sacked him four times. The three takeaways pushed the Steelers total this season to 33 (18 interceptions, 15 fumble recoveries), tops in the league.
“We feel like if we’re in position for the defense to close it out, we got the guys,” said Haden, who closed out last week’s victory against the Cleveland Browns with an interception. “We’re not nervous, we’re not scared. We just feel if they put the ball in our hands and there’s a chance for us to close it out, we feel we can do it.”
Outside linebacker T.J. Watt had the other interception, snuffing a Cardinals scoring threat early in the fourth quarter when he dropped into coverage on fourth-and-2 at the Steelers 6 and picked off Murray in the end zone. His pick was mindful of another big interception by a Steelers outside linebacker at the goal line against the Cardinals — only Watt didn’t try to run out of the end zone like James Harrison on his 100-yard interception return for touchdown in Super Bowl XLIII.
“He was supposed to rush, I was supposed to drop,” Watt said of Harrison. “Give him a little more credit.”
Quarterback Devlin Hodges ran his record to 3-0 as a starter by completing 16 of 19 passes for 152 yards and one touchdown with a passer rating of 117.5. He became the first undrafted quarterback in 32 years to win his first three NFL starts.
Like he did last week against the Browns, he led the Steelers on an eight-play scoring drive at the end of the first half that resulted in Boswell’s second field goal with no time remaining and a 13-10 halftime lead. Along the way, he calmly completed passes of 12 yards to James Washington and 18 yards to Johnson but also scrambled 22 yards to the Cardinals 41.
And he produced the only offensive touchdown early in the third quarter when he threw a 2-yard touchdown to Johnson to give the Steelers a 20-10 lead.
“Whatever play is called, I’m going to go out there and execute it,” Hodges said. “If the coaches didn’t have the confidence in me, I don’t think I would be playing.”
Hodges got a lot of help from Johnson, who caught six passes for 60 yards, maybe none more dazzling than a 14-yarder to the Cardinals 2 in which he caught the ball near the right sideline, broke a tackle by cornerback Patrick Peterson, then reversed his field and was tackled out of bounds on the left sideline. That set up his touchdown reception three plays later.
But Johnson’s biggest play was his punt return for touchdown that gave the Steelers a 10-0 lead — their first punt return for touchdown since Antonio Brown’s 71-yard return on Dec. 6, 2015, against the Indianapolis Colts.
“I was able to get the team momentum just off that play,” Johnson said. “That took over the whole game and we continued to put points on the board. That play got us a spark.”
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First Published: December 8, 2019, 10:05 p.m.