James Conner one of several players injured in Steelers loss to Chargers

The second half went awry for the Pittsburgh Steelers in many ways on Sunday night in their 33-30 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers and the damage might have gone deeper than the Steelers hopes of a favorable playoff seeding. As the Chargers started to rack up the points after the halftime break, the injuries began to mount for Pittsburgh and it should be expected that several players will be limited as they prepare for Week 14.

While Justin Hunter was the first to leave the game prematurely with a shoulder injury in the first half, he would be joined on the sidelines by Ryan Switzer and James Conner later in the game. Switzer appeared to take a blow to the head on a play that resulted in a 15-yard penalty and would not return after he was taken to the locker room to be evaluated for a concussion.

Conner appeared to go down in some pain when his leg was twisted on a tackle later in the contest, also ending his day early. When speaking to reporters after the game, Mike Tomlin would characterize his injury as a lower leg contusion, but in a rather brief post-game press conference, had little else to share.

“On the injury front, a number of things. Hunter’s got a shoulder, wasn’t able to return. Kam Canaday, the snapper, got a knee sprain. James Conner’s got a lower leg contusion. Ryan Switzer’s in the concussion protocol and Chickillo’s got an ankle.”

Kameron Canaday was able to continue, even though he was visibly limping at times, while it is unclear what specific play caused Anthony Chickillo to get hurt. Although he was not mentioned by Tomlin in his injury update, it looked like Joe Haden took a blow to the head from Sean Davis in the second half that caused him to drop an interception and he could yet be another name to worry about this week.

When you add in the already sidelined Morgan Burnett and Marcus Gilbert, Pittsburgh could be significantly short-handed when they face the Oakland Raiders next Sunday.