Cleveland Browns: 3-Step blueprint to Week 11 victory over Steelers

Bottle Up James Conner

He may not be Le’Veon Bell for the Steelers, but running back James Conner is electrifying for this Pittsburgh offense. The 2017 third-round pick by Pittsburgh has come into his own since arriving in the league, playing in Bell’s absence in 2018 and taking over the full-time starting job this season. The Browns’ defensive tackles and linebackers need to keep him out of big play territory.

Although Conner is only averaging 54.3 yards per game on the ground, his four touchdowns have kept Pittsburgh afloat. His penchant for clutch runs to both get the Steelers back in games and put games away has helped the black and yellow get back above the .500 mark.

Bottling up James Conner, at least to some degree, can seriously disrupt how Pittsburgh’s offense works, which goes a long way to making Mason Rudolph feel uncomfortable. While it would be a stretch to say that Rudolph has used Conner as a crutch, it’s clear that the third-year running back is something of a safety blanket for Pittsburgh’s offensive attack.

Conner’s play has warranted his becoming a featured player in the Steelers’ offensive scheme, and the Browns should be taking notes of how Pittsburgh has used him. This is not only so they can shut down the run game on Thursday night, but so they can find more ways to get Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt involved in their own offense.