Steelers see improvement in running game during rout of Jaguars

Running back James Conner remarked that “everybody” had counted out the Pittsburgh Steelers rushing offense.

Where did he see that so many were doing so?

“Everywhere,” the Steelers’ featured back said during remarks that were perhaps more ornery that you might expect for a player on a team that won 27-3 to improve to 10-0 on the season.

Everybody, everywhere saw a better Steelers running game Sunday. The commitment to it still generally lacked, and the consistency wasn’t at its highest level. But it had its best statistical effort in more than a month during the win against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Conner had 89 rushing yards, his most since an Oct. 18 win against the Cleveland Browns. The Steelers finished with 106 rushing yards, also their most since that game. The Steelers had totaled just 138 rushing yards over the previous three games to tumble to 24th in the NFL in that category.

“We weren’t down on ourselves,” Conner said during a video conference call after Sunday’s game. “Even though everybody else counted us out, we knew that we had another opportunity to keep growing in the run game and keep working on things to get it going. We had a good week of practice, running hard today, line was blocking, good opportunity.”

In a matchup of teams heading in opposite directions, the outcome at TIAA Bank Field was not unexpected. #PITvsJAX https://t.co/OgAYpWj3JK

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) November 22, 2020

Conner had two carries of 17 yards and another of 25 yards. He had none of more than 18 yards over the previous three games.

Still, echoing coach Mike Tomlin’s mantra that the only thing perfect about the Steelers is their record, the run-game effort in Jacksonville was … less than perfect.

Only seven of 24 (non-kneeldown) carries gained more than 3 yards. Nine Steelers carries netted 1 yard or fewer, including three of Conner’s 13 runs. Conner had the second-fewest attempts he has had for any game this season in which he was not injured.

“It was better today,” Tomlin said of the running game, “(but) we will keep assessing it. We were not going to crack that nut with the first swing.”

On a day in which he threw 46 passes during a blowout win against an overmatched opponent, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was curt when asked about the rushing attack.

“We will be just fine,” he said. “Not worried about it.”

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