The (3-10) Arizona Cardinals were able to defeat the (7-5) Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-10. A big part of their win was the ability to run the ball.
Cardinals running back James Conner had 25 carries for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Did he have the best week of any running back in the NFL?
Top Running Back Performances of Week 13
Isiah Pacheco – Chiefs – 18 carries, 110 yards, 1 touchdown against the Green Bay Packers
James Conner – Cardinals – 25 carries, 105 yards, 2 touchdowns against the Pittsburgh Steelers
Chuba Hubbard – Panthers – 25 carries, 104 yards, 2 touchdowns against the Carolina Panthers
Derrick Henry – Titans – 21 carries, 102 yards, 2 touchdowns against the Indianapolis Colts
Christian McCaffrey – 49ers – 17 carries, 93 yards, 1 touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles
James Conner had a great game against his former team. The Cardinals were able to get build a lead at the end of the second quarter and hold on to it for the entire second half. The best way to hold on to the lead is to run the ball.
Running the ball against the Steelers is no easy task. They had only given up 121 yards combined in their previous two games. The Cardinals were able to gain a total of 150 rushing yards. Conner had some big time physical runs against a big time physical defense.
Did Conner have the best game by a running back in week 13?
James Conner was going against one of the best defenses in the NFL and managed to gain over 100 yards. This is even more impressive considering that the passing game wasn’t great for the Cardinals. Kyler Murray only threw for 145 yards.
The Steelers were expecting the run and still could not stop it. The one negative about Conner’s performance is the 0 yards receiving that he had. None of the top five rushers had great games as pass catchers.
The former Pittsburgh Steeler really played well against his former team. He had the best pure running performance of the week.
