The No. 1 thing that every NFL rookie tries to avoid is making a crucial mistake that can cost their team points.
Well, Pittsburgh’s first-year running back Kaleb Johnson will have to do his best to forget about Sunday’s game against Seattle, because he committed a special teams blunder that will be talked about for weeks to come.
With the Seahawks kicking off up 17-14 with 12:46 remaining in the fourth quarter, Johnson mishandled the ball off the bounce opted to let it roll into the end zone after it landed inside the 20-yard line.
But because it landed in the field of play, the ball was live. It skittered into the end zone but stopped before it rolled out the back of it, which was likely what Johnson assumed would happen.
A swarm of Seattle players pounced on the ball, giving their team a pivotal touchdown that made this a two-score game.
Johnson could only stare in disbelief, as all he had to do was fair catch the ball or even just monitor its progress into the end zone instead of walking away.
Johnson recorded 1 carry for -2 yards in the Steelers’ opening game against the Jets, and he only logged 1 carry for a yard in Sunday’s loss.
Of course, Johnson was selected 83rd overall by Pittsburgh because of his productive career with Iowa. After being a rotational runner in 2022 and 2023, Johnson exploded for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns a year ago, which came on 6.4 yards per carry.
Current sports editor with the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Mississippi. 2024 graduate from Mizzou and college athletics enthusiast.
