The Pittsburgh Steelers as an organization are familiar with Arizona Cardinals RB James Conner, as he spent the first four years of his career with the team. During his final two years with the team, current Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin was the team’s secondary coach, so he knows what Conner brings to a team. With the Steelers taking on the Cardinals on Sunday, Austin broke down what the Steelers need to do to stop Conner, offering particular praise for his power.
“A bruising runner. He will run through tackles. He gets to the second level. If he finds a little guy, the little guy better watch out. And so I really like James. We know what kind of football guy he was when he was here and so it’s gonna be our guys gonna have their work cut out for them for us this week. Getting him on the ground and making sure, you know, the thing we talk about is we gotta get multiple hats to make sure we get him and wrap him. You’re not gonna shoulder tackle him. You’re not gonna push him down. You better tackle, wrap and have multiple people there,” Austin said via transcript provided by the team.
Conner is one of the best power backs in football, and he’s had a solid season for Arizona in 2023. In eight games, he’s carried the ball 104 times for 526 times yards and two touchdowns, good for 5.1 yards per carry. The Steelers’ run defense is coming off an awesome performance against the Cincinnati Bengals, holding RB Joe Mixon to just 16 yards on eight carries.
While a similar performance would be ideal, it’s hard to ask for such a good outing in back-to-back weeks, and with the Cardinals being a team that can rely on their run game, flying to the ball and making sure Conner isn’t getting any extra yards is going to be crucial.
In addition to Conner, QB Kyler Murray is more than capable of using his legs, so defending the run will be a major key for Pittsburgh on Sunday if it wants to stop the Arizona offense. Having multiple guys getting to Conner to bring him down will be crucial, and not letting him use his power to wear down Pittsburgh’s defense throughout the game will be super important, too.
Especially this late in the season, the Steelers want their defense as fresh as they can be. They did a good job keeping their defense off the field against Cincinnati, and containing Conner and the Arizona run defense will help the defense got off the field more against the Cardinals. But it’s going to take a lot to tackle Conner, so the Steelers need to make sure it’s a collective effort in run defense.
