First Call: Odd Steelers streak ends in loss to Chargers; James Conner stays hot; stats behind Tristan Jarry’s shutout string

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A strange Pittsburgh Steelers streak was snapped during the Sunday night game against the Los Angeles Chargers. James Conner keeps finding the end zone. We watch a particular Cincinnati Bengals player as they get set to host the Steelers. And we examine the Penguins’ next opponent.

All that in Monday’s “First Call.”

All good things …

Steelers cornerback James Pierre committed a pass interference penalty in the first quarter of the team’s 41-37 loss in Los Angeles Sunday night.

He was flagged in the end zone trying to guard Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams.

Believe it or not, that was the first accepted — and first called — defensive pass interference penalty against the Steelers all year. Coordinator Keith Butler’s unit managed to avoid a flag for that infraction through the first nine games of the season.

The Chargers eventually scored on the drive, courtesy of an Austin Ekeler run to make the score 7-3 Los Angeles.

Cooling cat

The Cincinnati Bengals (6-4) will be hosting the Steelers with a little bounce in their step next weekend.

Cincinnati halted its two-game losing streak with a 32-13 beatdown of the Las Vegas Raiders Sunday.

One guy that still needs to get going, though, is Ja’Marr Chase. The wide receiver appeared to be en route to the Rookie of the Year award early in 2021. But he has cooled of late. Over his last three games, the LSU product is averaging just four catches for 37.7 yards per game.

In the previous three contests for Cincy, Chase was averaging six catches for 152.3 yards per game.

Chase only had three catches for 32 yards Sunday. He did have a touchdown, though.

That was Chase’s eighth of the year. He had four catches for 65 yards and two touchdowns against the Steelers in Week 3 at Heinz Field.

Red-zone red bird

Ex-Steeler James Conner just keeps scoring.

The former Pitt Panther found the end zone again for the Arizona Cardinals (9-2) Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks (3-7).

Conner had 62 yards on 21 carries, along with five catches for 37 yards. He’s up to 13 total touchdowns on the season. That leads the NFC.

The only NFL player with more is Jonathan Taylor. The Indianapolis Colts running back had five Sunday (four rushing, one receiving) against the Buffalo Bills, bringing his season total to 15.

Who’s next?

Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry is in the midst of a shutout streak. Following a 6-0 road win against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, he blanked the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday 2-0.

Over the past three games, he hasn’t allowed a goal in 149 minutes and 47 seconds.

Via TribLIVE’s Seth Rorabaugh, the franchise record of 177:15 was set by Jarry over four games during a stretch between November and December of the 2019-20 campaign.

The Penguins last accomplished three straight shutouts from March 26-30, 2013 against the Canadiens (1-0), the Winnipeg Jets (4-0) and the New York Islanders (2-0). Marc-Andre Fleury won the first game. Tomas Vokoun won the other two.

If Jarry gets the start again Monday for the Penguins (7-6-4) he’ll face the Jets (9-4-4). They have only netted three goals over their last two games, both road losses in Vancouver (3-2) and Edmonton (2-1).

The Jets are averaging 3.12 goals per game, 11th in the NHL at the start of play Sunday. Their power play is clicking at 21.3%, good for 11th in the league. But the unit is one for its last 16.

On an individual level, Kyle Conner is racking up points with 22. That’s good for fourth in the league. His 12 goals are also fourth best in hockey.

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



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