The Pittsburgh Steelers have picked up a couple of critical wins in a row without two of their best offensive players, and they are going to have to try to do it again on Sunday.
Per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk, the Steelers have ruled out wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and running back James Conner for their Week 14 matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.
Smith-Schuster has been out after sustaining a concussion and a knee injury on the same play during Pittsburgh's loss to the Cleveland Browns back on Nov. 14. While he seems to be free from the concussion, the knee remains an issue.
Meanwhile, Conner suffered a shoulder injury in the same game against the Browns.
The Steelers were able to get by without both players against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 12, and this past weekend, Pittsburgh avenged its Week 11 loss to Cleveland with a pivotal 20-13 victory.
Luckily, the Steelers have another relatively easy opponent on tap this week, as the Cardinals have lost five games in a row and are just 3-8-1 on the season, but Arizona remains fairly dangerous with Kyler Murray.
Just about everyone had Pittsburgh left for dead after it lost starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to an elbow injury and got off to an 0-3 start this season, but it has responded by winning seven of its last nine games to vault itself into the thick of the AFC Wild Card hunt.
The Steelers currently hold the second Wild Card spot in the conference, but they don't have much room—if any at all—for error. Getting Smith-Schuster and Conner back soon would obviously help them avoid such missteps.
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