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First Call: Steelers already big favorites for next week; James Conner and Le'Veon Bell star in wins with new teams | TribLIVE.com
Steelers/NFL

First Call: Steelers already big favorites for next week; James Conner and Le'Veon Bell star in wins with new teams

Tim Benz
Tim Benz
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AP
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger throws a pass against the Detroit Lions during a game on Aug. 21, 2021 at Heinz Field.

Monday’s “First Call” is already looking ahead to the Steelers game next week before they play the Chicago Bears Monday night. A pair of former Steelers running backs made the highlight clips Sunday. And the next opponent for the Penguins finally made things go right.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves

The Steelers are heavy favorites for their upcoming game.

Next week. And they haven’t even played this week’s game yet.

BetOnline.ag has already installed the Steelers as nine-point favorites over the Detroit Lions at Heinz Field in Week 10.

That’s not entirely surprising. The only problem is that the Steelers haven’t even played their Week 9 game. They host the Chicago Bears (3-5) Monday night.

BetRivers.com has the Steelers (4-3) as 6.5-point favorites in that one. The over/under total is set at 39.

As for the Lions (0-8), this is their bye week.

Touchdown terror

James Conner’s renaissance in Arizona continues.

The former Steelers running back had three touchdowns Sunday for the Cardinals against the San Francisco 49ers. Two rushing, one receiving.

That brings Conner’s season total to an NFL-leading 11. The Pitt product also had 96 rushing yards Sunday to go along with 77 receiving yards.

The Cardinals improved to 8-1 with a 31-17 victory over the Niners. Arizona won despite quarterback Kyler Murray and star receiver De’Andre Hopkins missing the game due to injury.

Look at Le’Veon

Another former Steelers running back, Le’Veon Bell, found the end zone Sunday.

Now with the Ravens, Bell scored a fourth quarter touchdown that put Baltimore in front of Minnesota 31-24.

That score would not stand up, however, as the Vikings forced overtime with a touchdown of their own. But the Ravens managed to win in overtime 34-31.

Bell ended up with 48 yards rushing. That’s his highest single game total since Dec. 20 of last year.

Off the schneid

The Penguins next play Tuesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.

It’s been tough sledding for the Hawks this season. They went 1-9-2 to start 2021-22, including a 5-2 defeat in Pittsburgh.

But they finally got victory No. 2 on the season Sunday, snatching a 2-1 overtime victory from the Nashville Predators courtesy of an Alex DeBrincat goal.

Kevin Lankinen got the win in goal. We’ll see if former Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury gets the start for the Blackhawks Tuesday.

Fleury has struggled mightily so far in Chicago, going 1-7-0 with a 4.11 goals against average and an .881 save percentage.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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Categories: Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz
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