Stevie Johnson is a....

[jamze132]

...Young kid who is still finding his way. He has a boat load of talent and confidence that was beginning to border on being egotistical. Any of us would probably go through the same thing if we were in his shoes. All of the sudden he is on almost every radio show, all the sports talk tv shows are talking about him, and he is getting nothing but love from Buffalo.

His entire week was a blur with all of the media coverage and I think his performance ysterday was a total lack of focus, concentration, and discipline. I'm not mad at him as I think this could end up being a turning point for him as a player and a person. I doubt he ever gets a big head again in the NFL. HUGE slice of humble pie.

He just needs to focus Monday thru Saturday on Sunday and forget the rest. If he does that he could be a very good and clutch WR in the NFL.

[NOT THE DUDE...]

all he needs is practice... he will be a star!

steve is the least of our problems...

get some damn pass rush on the front 7 along with some run stuffers and we will make a run at the playoffs.

[ddaryl]

2 outcomes from the Pitt game for Steve.

1.) He learns a lesson about getting caught up in the media hype and uses this game to remind him the importance of keeping your head in the game.

2.) This game haunts him and become a prelude to a career full of untimely dropsies

[HHURRICANE]

3 years to develop and he drops the game winning play and was directly responsible for the pick that would have won us the game as well.

Kind of get tired of how everyone makes excuses for losing.

[TheGhostofJimKelly]

3 years to develop and he drops the game winning play and was directly responsible for the pick that would have won us the game as well.

Kind of get tired of how everyone makes excuses for losing.

I am with you on this one. You are a professional athelete, this isn't college ball anymore. You drop those in college and oops. You drop those in NFL games that could win you the game, that sucks. I don't think anyone thinks this kid won't be a good ball player, but you have to make that catch.

[Mr. Miyagi]

If he's going to make stupid young kid mistakes, this is the season to do it. I'm glad he did it this year than a year that we're actually in contention.

[psubills62]

This is his first year with any sort of significant playing time (thanks, Jauron). Like I said in another thread, dropping an easy pass like that, imo, shows that he won't be an elite option. However, he's still talented enough to start and be a very good receiver.

He's got a great chance to show his mettle. After being a 7th round pick, he's come this far with all the odds being against him for several years. He has an opportunity to turn that drop into motivation to work harder and know that no matter what kind of a surprising, great year he has, he'll never be perfect. If he uses it to work harder and get better, no problem.

If, however, he uses it to define his career in a bad way, he'll be a forgotten name in a couple of years. Johnson should learn from Limas Sweed, ironically from the Steelers - he had a horrible drop for a TD in what I think was a playoff game a year or two back. Sweed wasn't coming into his own quite like Johnson is, but he was showing promise.

[RockStar36]

Receivers drop passes every Sunday, every week, every season. Yes this was huge and yes it cost them the game, but the Stevie bashing is ridiculous. I hate the two-faced fans who feel the need to always bash the players but whatever.

[bluerosekiller]

...Young kid who is still finding his way. He has a boat load of talent and confidence that was beginning to border on being egotistical. Any of us would probably go through the same thing if we were in his shoes. All of the sudden he is on almost every radio show, all the sports talk tv shows are talking about him, and he is getting nothing but love from Buffalo.

His entire week was a blur with all of the media coverage and I think his performance ysterday was a total lack of focus, concentration, and discipline. I'm not mad at him as I think this could end up being a turning point for him as a player and a person. I doubt he ever gets a big head again in the NFL. HUGE slice of humble pie.

He just needs to focus Monday thru Saturday on Sunday and forget the rest. If he does that he could be a very good and clutch WR in the NFL.

Great post.

Kudos for not being another hater.

I too, think that this could turn out to be a very valuable lesson to him & lead him to work on his craft & his focus to take them to the next level , so that somewhere down the line ( maybe in a playoff game, hopefully soon ) he'll make that catch next time. And the time after that...

Jim

[Pinkerton Security]

so should we not resign him?

http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/showthread.php?t=198219

typical flip flopping and over-reacting. He could have single handedly won us the game but didnt...let us hope he learns something from it and uses it to keep improving.

[TedMock]

3 years to develop and he drops the game winning play and was directly responsible for the pick that would have won us the game as well.

Kind of get tired of how everyone makes excuses for losing.

I don't think anybody's making excuses for Johnson. Saying they think he's going to be a good player isn't making an excuse. The guy had 5 drops yesterday, one resulting in a pick. Terrible game for him and those far outweigh the 7 for 68 he had on the positive side...no doubt about that. I was very hard on Johnson the first 4, or so, games. He had a good 2 drops in each of those and I was not sold on him at all, but none of those games were as bad as yesterday. Of course he also had a great game last week. He had great games against Baltimore and Chicago too. Do those count as him developing in his third season? Or, do we only look at his worst game of the year and say this is it - he's in his 3rd season and this is what he gives us? I honestly don't know. What did you think about him last week? Did you think he was emerging? Did you think it was dumb luck and he would have 5 drops the next week? Seriously. No excuses. It is what it is. What if he has 138 and 3 TD's next week? Is he forgiven? I honestly don't know what to think about the entire team anymore. I will give them credit for one thing - they are a gritty bunch of kids whether we believe they have talent or not.

[Figster]

...Young kid who is still finding his way. He has a boat load of talent and confidence that was beginning to border on being egotistical. Any of us would probably go through the same thing if we were in his shoes. All of the sudden he is on almost every radio show, all the sports talk tv shows are talking about him, and he is getting nothing but love from Buffalo.

His entire week was a blur with all of the media coverage and I think his performance ysterday was a total lack of focus, concentration, and discipline. I'm not mad at him as I think this could end up being a turning point for him as a player and a person. I doubt he ever gets a big head again in the NFL. HUGE slice of humble pie.

He just needs to focus Monday thru Saturday on Sunday and forget the rest. If he does that he could be a very good and clutch WR in the NFL.


Great post ,

Staying humble is something both God and Chan Gailey would smile upon.

[jamze132]

Dude just needs to keep practicing and staying focused. And he does not need to read anything in the media until he can read what they have to say, positive or negative, and send it right out the other ear.

[Drev8]

How different would we think about the drop if it had been a 40 yard bomb down the sideline, and he dropped it around the 20? We've seen TO, Braylon Edwards drop those routinely. Ok, they're not great examples maybe, but my point is it's because it would have won the game that it hurts do much. Fact is, like another poster has said, these drops happen all the time. This one, of course, will stick out for a long time. But it doesn't mean he's suddenly become a confidence-shattered receiver. Time will tell...

[mysticsoto]

Stevie clearly had a bad day Sunday. I can take the loss in a season where we are not going to amount to anything. Now, if he takes this loss and uses it to increase his future focus then its worth it. If he lets it get him down, loses focus and it becomes a pattern, then we have a problem. Somehow, I think he will emerge better than before.

Still, I'm not feeling all the anger some are feeling here. We came to play, we still have heart and we gave the Steelers all they could handle. I have no problem with losing in this fashion - yes, a win would have been better and the TD catch would have placed an exclamation point on the Bills hard play. But overall, I was still impressed that they even gave the Steelers a challenge!!! Gailey is really impressing me with what he's going w/the team. Give Kyle Williams some help up front next year with better LBs and possibly better DEs and I think we will have ourselves a great season.

[The King]

I think Stevie got a little high on himself after last weeks performance... this should humble him and make him a better player. If I am a WR that is the type of play that sends you into therapy, and you make sure you never, ever let that happen again.