Three Keys to a Pittsburgh Steelers Victory in Week Two
By Chris Ross
Establish the Run
Against the Patriots, running back James Conner was only to muster 21 yards on the ground. Yes, New England has a talented front seven, but the running game was simply dreadful. Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower were too much for Pittsburgh’s linemen to handle, leading to losses and broken plays all game long. Conner also deserves some of the blame for the poor performance as he seemed unable to read the defense and failed to avoid defenders while running directly into traffic. This team allowed Le’Veon Bell to leave town because of their faith in Conner, but in Week One he didn’t look like the same player that burst onto the scene last year.
When the running attack is working, the Steelers offense can play much more effectively. As good as Roethlisberger and the passing game can be, the ground game is crucial to the entire offense’s success. When this team is picking up yardage through the run, it takes the pressure off the passing game and opens up a play-action attack that can be devastating to opposing defenses. You can be sure that if this team had run the ball well against New England, the result would have been much different.
Fortunately for Pittsburgh, this should be a non-issue moving forward. Conner is too talented to be consistently bottled up, and the offensive line has too much talent to continue to struggle as they did. Even with Seattle’s stout run defense on deck, expect Mike Tomlin to make running the ball a priority in Week Two.