Team expects Conner to be great
RB has gained more than 1,000 yards this season
Nothing James Conner does is a surprise to his teammates any longer. In fact, they’ve come to expect greatness out of him. If greatness seems like too strong of a word for the backup running back who was supposed to be holding things down until Le’Veon Bell returned, then consider this: Conner is on almost the exact same pace that Bell was on at the midway point of the 2014 season, the year he earned All-Pro honors for the first time.
Bell had 1,086 scrimmage yards through eight games in his second NFL season; Conner has 1,085.
Conner’s latest masterpiece came against the NFL’s No. 1 defense. The Baltimore Ravens entered the game No. 1 across the board. All Conner did was shred the Ravens for 163 total yards. He notched his fourth consecutive 100-yard rushing game, finishing with 107 yards on 24 carries. He added seven receptions for 56 yards and scored the game’s first touchdown.
“It’s not even surprising,” offensive lineman David DeCastro said. “We expect more from him. That’s the standard here.”
Conner one-upped Bell when he became the first player in franchise history
to score 10 touchdowns in the first eight games of a season. It was a day of redemption for Conner, who managed just 19 yards on nine carries in the first meeting against the Ravens at the end of September. In the next four games — all Steelers victories — Conner has 474 rushing yards, 215 receiving yards and a whopping 108 touches.
“I’m built for it,” Conner said after the game, shrugging off any notion that his workload is too heavy.
Conner eclipsed his rushing total from the first game against the Ravens on the Steelers’ first drive. His first carry went for 8 yards and his second for 25. In all, he accounted for 42 yards on the first drive. He had 112 total yards by halftime when the Steelers took a 14-6 lead into the locker room.
“It was James being better,” offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva said. “It’s James showing no challenge is too big for him — No. 1 defense, whatever it might be. When you’re close to him and you see him lower his shoulder and get a couple of yards it’s extremely motivating. I haveto give him a lot of credit forhis performance today.”
“It was part of our game plan to get some running yards on them, knowing how good they are defensively,” center Maurkice Pouncey said. “They’re No. 1 across the board. I’m proud of the guys. I’m proud of the coaches for putting a great game plan together, for the guys latching onto guys and blocking really well.”
The Steelers made a few tweaks to their game plan for the rematch. They spread the Ravens out with three and four receivers, which opened up running lanes for Conner. That adjustment by Randy Fichtner also served another purpose. By keeping his same personnel on the field for most of the game — making few substitutions — it allowed quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to get a feel for his short passing game.
Roethlisberger threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns, but he was consistently strong at converting third downs. He completed passes to seven receivers, and the Steelers finished 10 for 16 on third downs after going 2 for 12 in the first meeting at Heinz Field.
“When you establish the run — I know it’s kind of cliche — but when you have efficient runs like that and Conner is running hard and he’s getting us in manageable third downs, it makes life a lot easier on all of us,” DeCastro said. “We were in that rhythm. We kept going. We wore them down a little bit, and we got a little momentum going.”
This was the second consecutive game the Steelers played without right tackle Marcus Gilbert, who is dealing with a knee injury. Matt Feiler played exceptionally well again in his place. The Steelers are 3-0 with Feiler as a starter this season.
“I don’t want to take anything away from James, but the big boys up front are opening holes,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “It’s a collective effort. James is going above and beyond, but I’m more pleased on what he’s doing in the passing game from a blitz pickup standpoint. That’s a little more unique than the rushing. We knew he could rush the ball since he showed up at Pitt at 18 or 19 years old.”
Now he’s authoring a special season and is threatening the franchise record for yards in a season.
“We wanted to get rolling early,” Conner said. “We wanted to start fast and make some plays. This team is playing with a lot of confidence right now.”
The same can be said of Conner, who is getting closer each week to an AllPro season of his own.