After being criticised for not stamping his mark on the Warriors attack in the early rounds Johnson came close to scoring the game's opening try when he featured twice in one movement after running on the last tackle.
His presence then dropped away as the Broncos dominated possession and territory while his halves partner Chad Townsend again stepped up to challenge the defensive line and steer much of the Warriors' attack.
Johnson's first half tactic of kicking high for his outsides was negated by Brisbane's commitment to contesting the ball, but he began finding his range after the resumption. Improved chases and tap-backs from Jonathan Wright and Manu Vatuvei then helped reap tries for Townsend and Solomone Kata.
In between those scores, Johnson also benefitted from an ad-lib wrap-around play from interchange hooker Nathan Friend, cutting through the line to send Matt Allwood in to score.
But contrasting his good moments were basic errors, including a wild pass that went into touch, and a missed conversion from close range that would have put the Warriors ahead by two with 10 to go. He looked to be trying too hard when in the final stages he threw a panicky pass to no one and fumbled as he tried to regain possession.
Coach Andrew McFadden bristled when asked his opinion of Johnson's performance and reiterated his support for his chief playmaker.
"I'm not going to single anyone out," McFadden said. "There was a lot of good stuff in his game. He really took them on in that second-half and he'll get a lot of confidence out of that.
"But I know people keep pointing to Shaun and expecting him to do everything but this is really a team game. We weren't quite there in the first half, we turned that around in the second-half and that's the important thing."
Looking ahead to next Monday night's clash against the Storm in Melbourne, Johnson said it was important they show more steel in the early stages.
"We can't give sides the start that we gave them today," he said.
"That was where it was won and lost, in that first half. The fact that we clawed our way back into the game and gave ourselves a chance to win was pleasing but, again, [there was] just not enough composure shown when we needed it at the back end of the game."
Shaun Johnson
Receives: 50
Runs: 3 (29m)
Try Assists: 3
Tackle breaks: 1
Errors: 2
Chad Townsend
Receives: 51
Runs: 8 (91m)
Try Assists: 0
Tackle breaks: 5
Errors: 1
