Feeding Le’Veon Bell is the key to the Steelers winning
As the Steelers extend their winning streak to two games, there’s been one primary thread in both of these games: Le’Veon Bell.
It is certainly not a coincidence that in these two wins, both in which the Steelers were in control for the majority of the game, Bell played a key role on the ground and in the air. We can look at how Bell has performed against the Kansas City Chiefs over the past two years as a great baseline to prove this. The Steelers played the Kansas City Chiefs twice in 2016 and once so far in 2017.
The first time these times faced off in October of 2016, Bell carried the ball 18 times for 144 yards, while also catching 5 balls for 34 yards. That equates to 23 touches for 178 yards.
The second time these teams faced off in the 2016 playoffs Bell received an even greaert workload, carrying the ball 30 times for 170 yards. Unfortunately his role in the passing game was poor, only catching 2 balls for -4 yards.
The third match up which took place three weeks ago, Bell was once again a work horse carrying the ball 32 times for 179 rush yards. Toss in his 12 receiving yards and you got a whopping 193 yards from scrimmage.
Just from this small sample size against a single team you can see how pivotal Bell is for this teams success.
One of the biggest complaints from fans early in this season was that Bell was receiving too small of a workload. While fans don’t always complain about rational things, this was a very valid complaint. If you look back at the 2016 season, Bell thrived as the focal point of the offense.
In each 2016 game the Steelers won with Bell starting, he accumulated at least 130 total yards from scrimmage and at least 23 touches. That’s a very telling number – it shows that these team is at it’s best with Bell integrated into the game plan and consistently getting the football.
In the Steelers two losses in 2017, Bell had a day of 98 yards and 93 yards(yes that includess receiving yards). Those numbers are not good enough and easily reinforce the idea that this team wins when Bell is given the ball. Coincidentally, Bell also received 15 carries in each of those games. That number proves that the Steelers cannot abandon the run even when they are losing. They must keep Bell a part of the game plan and maintain a balanced offense.
If you examine the number of carries Bell has gotten in each victory this year (excluding the Browns game where he got ten carries) you get an average of 32 carries per game. This number once again shows that feeding Bell the football and establishing a run game is a key to the Steelers winning.
Let’s circle back to the Steelers most recent win versus the Bengals.
In this win, Bell carried the ball 35 times for 134 yards. He also caught 3 balls for 58 yards receiving, giving him a total of 192 yards from scrimmage. In this game you saw Bell get the football early and often and it’s no coincidence that the Steelers offense had a lot of success.
If the Steelers want to extend their win streak and make a legitimate playoff run, Le’Veon Bell is the key. By making him the focal point of this offense and continuing to give him around 30 carries a week, this offense will thrive.
Feed Le’Veon!
