Yesterday, I wrote about the shortcomings of Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers' offense in their 33-3 loss to the Patriots on Sunday. There were plenty of mistakes in the Xs and Os of the game, but there were other concerns as well.
Even though Antonio Brown's long gone, the Steelers still had Pro Bowl players JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner for Roethlisberger to target and use to make plays. But Conner was underused in Randy Fichtner's game plan, which cannot be part of the team's recipe moving forward.
Let's go deeper into why ...
Roethlisberger led the NFL in pass attempts, yards and interceptions last year as the Steelers compensated for the absence of Le'Veon Bell. But Conner stepped up in several games to make the Pro Bowl and showed he's ready to be the team's full-time starting running back.
Conner looked ready to be a more involved part of the offense after gaining 973 rushing yards and 548 receiving yards last season in just 13 games. But Fichtner didn't have Conner worked into most of the Steelers plays Sunday night. In fact, five other skill position players -- Smith-Schuster, Donte Moncrief, Vance McDonald, Ryan Switzer and James Washington -- saw more snaps than Conner.
.#Steelers offensive snap counts:
JuJu 62 90%
Moncrief 62 90%
McDonald 49 71%
Switzer 46 67%
Washington 36 52%
Conner 32 46%
Johnson 25 36%
Samuels 23 33%
Holton 8 12%
Grimble 2 3%
Moncrief might not get that distribution again. And Switzer got more time than Wash or Conner.
— Christopher Carter (@CarterCritiques) September 9, 2019
Conner played fewer than half of the plays run by the offense all game. His rushing stats weren't impressive — 21 yards on 10 carries — but he caught all four of his targets for 44 yards. Being fair to Conner, the Steelers' offensive line didn't have a good game. That led to few holes, but when Conner had a chance he hit it hard, like this 5-yard run on a toss:
Conner's threat in the passing game is another huge reason to work him more into the offense. Watch how Conner works a drag route across the field and turns it into 9 yards for the offense. Because he's a running back, the Patriots use a linebacker to cover him and Conner easily outruns him:
Conner also is good at making people miss in space after the catch. He's dangerous because of his quick feet and change of direction, as well as his ability to turn speed into power as a runner. That's when he's the most dangerous for cover linebackers and defensive backs as they try to bring him down.
Watch how he turns this short out from the slot into a 23-yard gain, one step to the inside and he flips the field in the game:
Conner presents multiple threats as a runner and a receiver who forces defenses to game plan to counter them. Compared to Switzer, Conner is more dangerous and productive, and there cannot be any reason beyond injury Switzer gets in the game more than Conner. Even if he's spelling with Jaylen Samuels, Conner must be a more prominent feature of this offense.
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