James Conner is the Key to a Pittsburgh Steelers Victory in Week Six

Heading into their Week Six matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Pittsburgh Steelers need their running game to lead them to victory.

The Pittsburgh Steelers need a victory in Week Six to keep their season alive. While a 1-5 record wouldn’t technically eliminate them from playoff contention, the list of teams that have overcome that type of start is short. Unfortunately, winning will be a tough task. With a trip to Los Angeles to take on a talented Chargers team on this week’s schedule, and with a quarterback making his first career start, the Steelers have their work cut out for them. The team is going to need many players to step up in Week Six to secure a victory, but running back James Conner is the player that is the key to a win.

Through the first five weeks of this season, Conner has been one of the biggest disappointments in the league. After a 2018-19 season in which he put up over 1400 yards from scrimmage to go with 13 total touchdowns. Conner’s play was so encouraging, in fact, that the Steelers felt comfortable parting ways with Le’Veon Bell. Unfortunately, the magic just hasn’t been there this season. Currently averaging 3.3 yards per carry, Conner has yet to show the power or explosiveness we saw last season. The loss of Ben Roethlisberger undoubtedly made Conner’s job much harder, but he deserves plenty of blame for his performance so far.

Luckily for Conner and the Steelers offense, the Chargers are a middling defense when it comes to stopping the run. With former undrafted free agent Devlin Hodges getting the start this week, it’s imperative for Conner to run well enough to take the pressure off the young QB.

If Conner can’t get back on track this week, we may need to start asking, was he a one-season wonder? For the Steelers’ sake both now and moving forward, let’s hope not.