First Call: James Conner had vision of big return to Pittsburgh; Jim Leyland moments
Monday’s “First Call” captures James Conner’s successful return to Pittsburgh as his Cardinals upset the Steelers 24-10 on Sunday afternoon. Another former Steeler had a big game in the NFC South. And we look ahead to what could be an ugly game between the Patriots and Steelers on Thursday night.
Plus, we remember some classic Jim Leyland moments in the wake of his election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Happy homecoming
After a two-touchdown, 105-yard performance, James Conner reflected upon his return to Acrisure Stadium on Sunday evening.
The Arizona Cardinals running back played there as both a Pitt Panther and a Pittsburgh Steeler from 2013-20. Following his team’s 24-10 upset of the Steelers, Conner told CBS that he had a vision of that kind of performance coming in advance of kickoff.
"I had this vision... to come home, receive the love, and let God do the rest."
- An emotional James Conner with our @melanie_collins following the @AZCardinals win pic.twitter.com/R1vuSE1tLK
— NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) December 3, 2023
“I had this vision to come home, receive the love, and let God do the rest,” Conner said. “It’s just special. I came to the University of Pittsburgh, trying just to figure it all out. Having the angle of mind of the NFL, not knowing how I was going to get there. But it all started on this field. And then to have a four-year run with the Steelers. I don’t take that for granted. I am just thankful to be back. There is a special energy in this place.”
Conner did his postgame interviews in a Pitt Panthers T-shirt.
"We don't let our record define us. We don't let that effect how we play, how we take the field. What we try to stand for. We're not defined by our record, we're going to keep fighting." pic.twitter.com/rADIU4NKlq
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) December 3, 2023
That was Conner’s first 100-yard game since a 106-yard effort in Week 2 against the New York Giants.
How bad is it going to be?
For as badly as things have gone for the Steelers this year on the offensive side of the ball, it’s been even worse for New England. They were beaten by the Los Angeles Chargers 6-0 on Sunday.
Now the Patriots are coming to Acrisure Stadium for what is sure to be an offensive fireworks show of epic proportions.
Via Yahoo Sports, the Patriots are the first team in the Super Bowl era to lose three straight games when allowing 10 or fewer points in all three contests.
The Patriots are the first team in the Super Bowl era to lose three straight games when allowing 10 or fewer points in all three contests.
The Patriots lost to the Chargers 6-0 with no TD's in the game pic.twitter.com/zu9b4QycX0
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) December 3, 2023
If that stat wasn’t bad enough for you, here’s another beauty.
The New England Patriots are the first team to lose three straight games while allowing 26 or fewer points in total during the streak since the Chicago Cardinals allowed 20 during three straight losses in 1938. pic.twitter.com/L2zJmhW0ca
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) December 3, 2023
The Patriots also lost their leading rusher Rhamondre Stevenson on what ProFootballTalk.com was calling a potentially serious ankle injury.
Given some of the injuries the Steelers suffered as well and the fact that both teams will be working on a short week, expect Thursday night’s game to be remarkably low scoring. The early BetRivers line has the over-under at 32.5.
More sports
• Airing of Grievances: Offense, defense flop as Steelers suffer dreadful upset loss to Cardinals
• Offense takes step back, Pickett hurt in weather-delayed Steelers loss to Cardinals
• Steelers express faith in Trubisky with Pickett likely out
Big Bud
Former Steeler Bud Dupree had his biggest game of the year for the Atlanta Falcons. He had seven tackles and two sacks during the team’s 13-8 win over the New York Jets.
Bud sacked a buddy!
FOX | NFL+ pic.twitter.com/CvACiUBXqE
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) December 3, 2023
That means Dupree now has five sacks on the season and a total of 12 since leaving the Steelers after the 2020 season.
The Falcons are now 6-6. That’s good enough to lead a lousy NFC South division. The Jets have fallen to 4-8.
Famous moment
Not long after news broke that former Pirates manager Jim Leyland made the National Baseball Hall of Fame, an old clip of one of his famous managerial moments started to trend on social media.
It was 2006. Leyland was managing the Detroit Tigers by then. He was at Yankee Stadium and had just been ejected between the top and bottom of the seventh inning on a Sunday afternoon. They were about to play “God Bless America” over the loudspeakers. So an irate Leyland paused, took his hat off, and ceased yelling at umpire James Hoy as the sound blared over the loudspeakers. Then, the minute the song ended, he tore right back into Hoy.
In fact, the MLB account on X reposted it Sunday night.
The moment Jim Leyland earned his spot in Cooperstown pic.twitter.com/O33IJ4HX6b
— MLB (@MLB) December 4, 2023
Another popular Leyland video that got some traction after his election was the highlight of Three Rivers Stadium erupting in applause when Leyland was introduced before the 1994 All-Star game.
How much #Pittsburgh loved ???? Jim Leyland was on full display at the 1994 #AllStarGame
Congrats on a Hall of Fame career!#Pirates #LetsGoBucs #MLB #HallOfFame
— 1986-92 Pittsburgh Pirates (@1992Pirates) December 4, 2023
Via TribLive’s Jerry DiPaola,
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.