James Conner
The other budding superstar on the offense, James Conner also was bottled up and did not make many plays. He looked so spectacular in the preseason that I thought he really could break into the top backs in the NFL. This game showed that he has the potential but there was not much running room.
You don’t have the inclination to run when you are down by so many points especially on the road. I for one, have been a big supporter of the Steelers committing to the run this year. If you look at the stats in the last five years the seasons with the most running attempts usually are the ones with the best records. I know it is not that simple but why can’t it be?
The running backs on the roster are more than capable of turning this team into a more run dominated offense. There needs to be just more of a dedication to that dynamic. It showed that nothing the Steelers did on offense worked. I know this is not all Conner’s fault as the offensive line didn’t play particularly well either. It was a total team disaster.
The stats show what a bad game it was for the starting RB. Conner ran 10 times for 21 yards with only a 2.1 yards per carry. He did, however, catch 4 balls for 44 yards. I still think that James will be fine and this was just a bad night. It is only one game and there are 16 more.