Not about the cancer battle that threatened to sidetrack his promising career before he even reached
the NFL. Not about his ongoing audition as the new featured running back for the
Pittsburgh Steelers while Le'Veon Bell continues his extended sabbatical.Not
even about his new role as an obstetrician in shoulder pads
http://www.atlantafalconsteamonline.com/ricardo-allen-jersey , a side gig he picked up while helping teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster celebrate a
touchdown during Pittsburgh's one-sided 41-17 victory over Atlanta on Sunday.
Smith-Schuster feigned contractions while lying on the Heinz Field turf before
Conner took the ball and placed it in the wide receiver's hands."I delivered a
baby," Conner said with only a faint hint of a smile. "First time. I'm going to
stick to football though."Considering how Conner looked while piling up 185
total yards and two touchdowns as the Steelers (2-2-1) restored some sanity to
their uneven season, that's probably a good idea. Running often and with
authority — two traits that defined his record-setting college career at
Pittsburgh — Conner served as the offensive fulcrum Pittsburgh turned on while
punishing the reeling Falcons (1-4)."James needed that," Steelers fullback
Roosevelt Nix said. "Our team needed that."Particularly after the way Pittsburgh
looked in the second half of a loss to Baltimore the previous week, when the
Steelers basically abandoned the idea of giving the ball to Conner entirely,
even though the game was tied at the break.There was no such wavering this time.
Conner had 99 total yards in the first quarter alone, including a 30-yard
catch-and-run, and kept right on going. He ran for 110 yards on 21 carries and
added 75 yards receiving. It was a performance that was reminiscent of the kind
Bell has churned out with regularity before deciding to spend the first portion
of this season staying away while waiting to sign his one-year franchise
tender.Though Conner understands the desire to stack his play up against Bell's,
he wants no part of it. He's just doing what he's asked to do. Against Atlanta
it was give the offense some much-needed balance. The Steelers ran the ball 29
times and passed it 29 times while improving to 7-0-1 all-time at home versus
the Falcons."I think the (offensive line) were tired of hearing all the, 'What's
going on? We can't run it,'" quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. "I think James
was tired of hearing about Le'Veon so much, so he put on a heck of a performance
today."The kind Conner and his teammates hope is repeatable."It's like back on
track," Conner said. "It's playing Steelers football today."Some other takeaways
as Pittsburgh sent Atlanta to its third straight loss.BASHED BIRDSThe Falcons
are off to their worst start since 2013. While injuries on defense have played a
significant factor, one of the main issues in Pittsburgh was an offensive line
that couldn't protect Matt Ryan. The Steelers chased Ryan down six
times
Authentic Calvin Ridley Jersey , including a strip-sack by T.J. Watt with less than 4 minutes to go that ended with teammate LJ Fort falling on the ball
in the end zone for a touchdown."Everybody knows our protection needs to be
better than it's been," said Ryan, who completed 26 of 38 passes for 285 yards
and a score. "The hardest part for players is having to watch that film and
critically evaluate yourself. I think with the kind of guys that we have there's
not going to be a whole lot that needs to be said."WI-FI CONNECTEDRoethlisberger
and Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown rediscovered the chemistry that's made
them one of the most potent combinations in the NFL for the last five-plus
years. Brown caught six passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns and downplayed
the notion there's been any sort of communication problem with his longtime
teammate."All of my catches, all of my touchdowns are from him, and that's my
guy," Brown said. "I live and die with him and the Wi-Fi was lit."SPECIAL ...
AND NOT SO MUCHPittsburgh kicker Chris Boswell missed his third extra point of
the season, matching his career total coming into 2018, but the Steelers also
produced a bright spot on special teams when Nix broke in and blocked a punt by
Atlanta's Matt Bosher that set up Conner's second touchdown run."We feel like
we're going to get one (blocked kick) every week," Nix said. "We rush hard,
that's what we do. It just happened like that."UP NEXTFalcons: Welcome NFC South
rival Tampa Bay next Sunday. The teams have split their last six
meetings.Steelers: Visit AFC North-leading Cincinnati (4-1) next Sunday.
Pittsburgh has won 9 of 10 against the Bengals.Intriguing players to watch in
Falcons vs. Saints Week 3 is here, and the Atlanta Falcons (1-1) have a very
important early season division game against the hated New Orleans Saints (1-1)
coming up on Sunday. A win here would be big confidence booster for an Atlanta
team that is weathering some injuries, and put the Saints at 0-2 in the division
(with both of those losses being home games).Needless to say, this is a big game
for the Falcons. Plus, it’s always nice to beat the Saints. Read on for some of
the most interesting Falcons’ players to watch in Week 3.Duke Riley and Foye
OluokunLet’s be honest here: Duke Riley had a bad game in Week 2. Could he show
improvement over the course of the season? Absolutely. But I think it’s time to
see what the Falcons have in Foye Oluokun—the sixth-round rookie LB from Yale.
Oluokun had a pretty good preseason
Authentic Devonta Freeman Jersey , getting plenty of snaps with the starters sitting. He looked solid in both run defense and coverage, and made several
plays on special teams.I expect Oluokun and Riley to split snaps against the
Saints. Riley deserves a chance to grow and develop, and Oluokun deserves a
chance to prove whether or not he’s the better option right now. Based on what
we’ve seen so far, I think Oluokun might be the best candidate the Falcons have
to play next to De’Vondre Campbell in the nickel defense. He’s a very smart
player with great athletic gifts—the perfect piece for Dan Quinn to mold. Let’s
see what he can do on the field against New Orleans.Vic Beasley, Steven Means,
and Brooks ReedWe’ve received a lot of conflicting and confusing messages from
the team regarding Takkarist McKinley’s practice status today, but the crux of
the story is this: both he and Derrick Shelby are almost certainly out for
Sunday’s game. That means it’s up to Vic Beasley—who’s been mostly invisible in
2018—Brooks Reed, and newcomer Steven Means. Beasley simply must step up this
week against the Saints. Brooks Reed has been a serviceable rotational player in
the past. Can he make enough plays against New Orleans? Steven Means is the
wild-card: he looked very impressive in the preseason for the Eagles. Can he
translate that into regular season production? They certainly won’t have an easy
go of it against the likes of Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk. If this team
can’t pressure Drew Brees at least somewhat effectively, they’ll be depending on
the offense to score 30+ points to win on Sunday.Matt Ryan and Steve
SarkisianSpeaking of the offense, much will depend upon the performance of Matt
Ryan and Steve Sarkisian against New Orleans. Ryan may need to be even sharper
than he was against the Panthers in Week 2 to outduel Drew Brees and the Saints.
At this point in the year, the New Orleans’ defense looks exploitable. Can Steve
Sarkisian draw up another creative gameplan to attack their weaknesses?Expect
Ryan and Sark to have a good game on Sunday. The Saints are having even worse
pass rush troubles than the Falcons in 2018, the LB corps is weak, and the
secondary has been exploitable thus far. Much will depend upon Atlanta’s
defense: if they can’t keep up with New Orleans, then the game could become a
shootout. How will the offense respond in that situation?Tevin Coleman and Ito
SmithUsually when talking about the Falcons’ dynamic RB duo
Authentic Julio Jones Jersey , we’re talking about Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman. Could we start using that to describe the pairing of Tevin Coleman and
Ito Smith, too? If they can replicate their Week 2 performance, the answer might
be yes. Coleman looked like a dominant runner against the Panthers. He’s playing
with better balance than he has at any time in his career, and is more patient
in the backfield. Ito Smith looked like a totally different player behind the
first-team offensive line. Smith made some ridiculous cuts and showed off
impressive burst and physicality in his limited touches. If these two can
continue to run like that behind this Falcons’ offensive line—which just lost LG
Andy Levitre for the season—then the Falcons may have some difficult decisions
to make in 2019.Damontae KazeeThe Falcons were forced to play S Jordan Richards
far more than they would’ve liked in Week 2 because of Damontae Kazee’s
ejection. It was a very dumb play that significantly impacted the defense. That
being said, I think his return to the secondary will be a huge boon this week
against the Saints. Richards is serviceable as a box defender, but asking him to
play deep coverage is a big mistake.Kazee is another ballhawk in the secondary
that plays with physicality, and his coverage ability is significantly better
than Richards and probably even Poole. The Saints have struggled with turnovers
through the first two weeks (-3 turnover margin in 2018), and an interception or
two from the Falcons defense would go a long way in getting a very important
victory against New Orleans.Wes SchweitzerAnother season-ending injury to the
Falcons’ OL occurred this week with LG Andy Levitre being sent to IR. That meant
third-year G Wes Schweitzer got inserted into the line-up early into the game
against Carolina. Going up against a formidable DL of the Panthers featuring
names like Kawann Short and Dontari Poe, Schweitzer more than held his own in
relief of Levitre.Perhaps Schweitzer really has improved drastically over his
2017 season, or perhaps he’s simply more comfortable on the left side—where he
spent nearly his entire college career. Maybe it’s a little of both. At any
rate, Schweitzer stepping in and replicating Levitre’s play at LG would be a
huge godsend to this offense. Let’s see how he does against Sheldon Rankins and
Cameron Jordan on Sunday.Who are some players that you’ll be watching closely on
Sunday? Do you think the Falcons’ defense can slow down the Saints’ offense?
What do you think of Atlanta’s chances of winning a shootout with New
Orleans?
