Steelers vs. Bills: Tomlin yet to give the green light to JuJu and James Conner

The Steelers have a very important game coming up against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. However, Mike Tomlin is pumping the brakes on JuJu Smith-Schuster’s and James Conner’s availability.

It’s been roughly a month since Steelers star skill players JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner have set foot on the field for NFL action. While both players should be nearing returns from the injuries they sustained back in Week 11 against the Browns, head coach Mike Tomlin is pumping the brakes on their availability this week.

According to Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports, Tomlin is “not ready to say” whether or not JuJu or Conner will be active for this Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills. During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Tomlin said that the quality and availability of Conner and Smith-Schuster during the practice week is what will determine whether or not they will be available to gear up this weekend in Pittsburgh.

While losing their starting running back and star receiver seems like the final blow to a team already without their franchise quarterback, the Steelers miraculously have found a way to overcome.

In Conner’s and Smith-Schuster’s absence, Pittsburgh has won three straight games against the Bengals, Browns, Cardinals – advancing their record to 8-5 on the season. Players like James Washington and Diontae Johnson have surprisingly taken a big step forward in the receiving game without JuJu on the field, while Benny Snell and newcomer Kerrith Whyte have been solid on the ground.

Remarkably, the Steelers are 3-0 without JuJu on the field this season and 5-0 without James Conner suiting up. Call it dumb luck if you will, but Pittsburgh has found a way to get the job done without two of their most popular offensive players.

However, the Steelers luck can only run so far, and they will need to get their team healthy if they want to make a serious push for the playoffs this season. The Bills are looking like a legitimately good team as we near the end of the 2019 season. With Josh Allen at the helm, Buffalo is 9-4 – their only losses coming against the Patriots, Eagles, Browns, and Ravens.

The Bills are a good football team with a defense that can contain most teams and an offense that has had little trouble moving the chains this season.

The Steelers did an excellent job this past Sunday against former 1st overall pick, Kyler Murray – nullifying his running game to just 0.3 yards per carry on 6 attempts and forcing three interceptions. Josh Allen is another dual-threat quarterback who is having a good season. While Pittsburgh should be able to contain him through the air, Allen has earned 439 yards on the ground to go with 8 rushing scores this season.

It’s good to know that players like Washington, Johnson, and Snell can step up to fill a void when needed, but Pittsburgh is in desperate need of a few more wins to secure a playoff spot this year. Keep an eye out for Conner and JuJu in practice this week.