Report: Bell will

[Slapstick]

Not sure your theory fits the data.

Both games against the Jags last year were games where we had turnovers early and got down big quickly. And the were against a team with a great D.

In the first game Bell had 93 total yards.

In the second, he had 155 yards and 2 TDs.

I don't see how you can reasonably think that having Bell in the field wouldn't make the O better... Or that he's not significantly better than Conner (who's doing better than I thought he would, but like Watt only really played well against Cle)

Sure it does...

In the first Jags game, Ben threw 5 INTs...Bell had 47 yards rushing...run game abandoned...

In the second Jags game, we were down very early by two TDs...but that was before the first turnover...Bell had 67 yards rushing, run game abandoned...

I’m not saying Bell wouldn’t make the offense “better”...I’m saying that Bell won’t “fix” the offense...Ben needs to do that, with or without Bell...

If he doesn’t, then it doesn’t matter who the RB is...especially if we don’t hand that RB the ball...

If you can stick with the run game in a close one, you can get what Conner gave you in Tampa...

[Steelhere10]

Going into the Sunday night game, the Steelers had won three in a row against the Ravens. In those three wins, Le’Veon Bell rushed for a combined 314 yards (4.6 average), caught passes for an additional 134 yards and scored seven total touchdowns. Think not having that to worry about that gave the Ravens defense any comfort? Me, too

[Northern_Blitz]

Sure it does...

In the first Jags game, Ben threw 5 INTs...Bell had 47 yards rushing...run game abandoned...

In the second Jags game, we were down very early by two TDs...but that was before the first turnover...Bell had 67 yards rushing, run game abandoned...

I’m not saying Bell wouldn’t make the offense “better”...I’m saying that Bell won’t “fix” the offense...Ben needs to do that, with or without Bell...

If he doesn’t, then it doesn’t matter who the RB is...especially if we don’t hand that RB the ball...

If you can stick with the run game in a close one, you can get what Conner gave you in Tampa...

Your theory was: If they abandon the run game, then yes, his impact is lessened considerably...But in the games against the Jags where they abandoned the run game, he still had considerable impact.

Your theory only fits if you only look at rushing yards (which he clearly doesn't get if we abandon the run). But, Bell has been able to consistently make an impact in the passing game (46 yards in the first game and 88 in the two games against the Jags last year).

It's not unreasonable to assume that he'd have had more than Conner's 3 receptions for 25 yards last week. Last year against Baltimore, Bell had 42 yards receiving in game 1 and 77 yards (and a TD) in game 2. This is a good example of what I'm trying to talk about here.

In game one against the Rats, he was dominant on the ground (144 yards and 2 TDs). So, we didn't need to rely on his receiving too much (but he still did well with 42 yards).

In game 2 against them, rushing yards were harder to come by (48 yards...but still 2 TDs). I don't know how you define "abandoned the run", but he only had 13 carries. But in that game, he was still able to contribute through the air with 9 receptions, 77 yards and a third TD. I'd say 90 yards and 3 TDs is considerable impact despite only having 13 carries in the running game.

Bell has been special because it's really hard to take him out of a game. If you take away the run, he hurts you catching balls out of the backfield. There's no shame in Conner not being able to do this, because very few back in the history of the league have had Bell's versatility. Missing that really hurts the offense IMO.

[Northern_Blitz]

Yep! And abandoning the run game along with off target passes kill those drives...

We had 6 drives in the 2nd half.

1 Tied 14-14: Run (4 yards), run (3 yards), pass, punt

2 Tied 14-14: Pass, pass, pass, pass, run (1 yard), pass, punt

3 Down 17-14: Run (-2) pass, pass, punt

4 Down 20-14: Pass, pass, pass, pass, punt

5 Down 23-14: Pass, pass, pick

6 Down 26-14: pass, pass, pass, pass (on downs)

The passing game sucked and I think that's on Ben and the play calling.

But the running game sucked too.

In the drives where we were tied, we ran 33% of the non-ST plays and averaged 2.7 yards. Not exactly stellar.

When down by less than a TD, we ran 14% of the time for -2 and average -2 yards (not really an average because it's only 1 play).

Then down by a TD, we passed ever time. Probably because we'd averaged 1.5 yards per carry in the 2nd half at that point and we were running out of time.

[feltdizz]

Yeah, not sure how anyone can argue Bell wouldn’t have more impact in these games.

There were here a few people on here who threw a parade after the Cleveland game. Conner is okay but Bell is an elite back. It was never fair to begin with to compare the 2.

Still hope Conner can get more touches because he is a punishing runner.

[feltdizz]

We had 6 drives in the 2nd half.

1 Tied 14-14: Run (4 yards), run (3 yards), pass, punt

2 Tied 14-14: Pass, pass, pass, pass, run (1 yard), pass, punt

3 Down 17-14: Run (-2) pass, pass, punt

4 Down 20-14: Pass, pass, pass, pass, punt

5 Down 23-14: Pass, pass, pick

6 Down 26-14: pass, pass, pass, pass (on downs)

The passing game sucked and I think that's on Ben and the play calling.

But the running game sucked too.

In the drives where we were tied, we ran 33% of the non-ST plays and averaged 2.7 yards. Not exactly stellar.

When down by less than a TD, we ran 14% of the time for -2 and average -2 yards (not really an average because it's only 1 play).

Then down by a TD, we passed ever time. Probably because we'd averaged 1.5 yards per carry in the 2nd half at that point and we were running out of time.

People kept giving our OL a lot of
love because DeAngelo has success when Bell was out. DE is a savvy RB who was pretty good in Carolina when healthy.

One good game can skew the data for the next 2 or 3 games so when folks say “DW was leading all RB’s in the first quarter of the season is proof the OL is good” is really misleading.

Its still comes down to situational football. Did the RB move the chains on 3rd down in the next 2 or 3 games? Was our blocking good in those next 2 or 3 games? Did we have a good average ypc in the next 2 or 3 games?

...or did we just spread those stats from the first game over the next 2 and our OL isn’t opening holes consistently or maybe Bell is really good at his job so it makes the OL look better than it is?

..or maybe an elite RB is more valuable than we want to admit?

[Northern_Blitz]

People kept giving our OL a lot of
love because DeAngelo has success when Bell was out. DE is a savvy RB who was pretty good in Carolina when healthy.

One good game can skew the data for the next 2 or 3 games so when folks say “DW was leading all RB’s in the first quarter of the season is proof the OL is good” is really misleading.

Its still comes down to situational football. Did the RB move the chains on 3rd down in the next 2 or 3 games? Was our blocking good in those next 2 or 3 games? Did we have a good average ypc in the next 2 or 3 games?

...or did we just spread those stats from the first game over the next 2 and our OL isn’t opening holes consistently or maybe Bell is really good at his job so it makes the OL look better than it is?

..or maybe an elite RB is more valuable than we want to admit?

I also think that having two elite options (Brown and Bell) made it harder for opposing D's than it is now.

[feltdizz]

I also think that having two elite options (Brown and Bell) made it harder for opposing D's than it is now.

Dont forget Bryant as well.

We have no deep threat. Why aren’t we using Heyward Bey? Is he hurt?

but Bell is the key. You can’t drop back or dare us to run with Bell in our backfield.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Dont forget Bryant as well.

We have no deep threat. Why aren’t we using Heyward Bey? Is he hurt?

but Bell is the key. You can’t drop back or dare us to run with Bell in our backfield.

I don't want DHB on the field except for punts and kickoffs.

Our best personnel grouping is 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE) with AB, Juju, and Washington as the wideouts.

While none of them have John Brown level speed, any of those 3 guys can get deep.

[Slapstick]

Your theory was: If they abandon the run game, then yes, his impact is lessened considerably...But in the games against the Jags where they abandoned the run game, he still had considerable impact.

Your theory only fits if you only look at rushing yards (which he clearly doesn't get if we abandon the run). But, Bell has been able to consistently make an impact in the passing game (46 yards in the first game and 88 in the two games against the Jags last year).

It's not unreasonable to assume that he'd have had more than Conner's 3 receptions for 25 yards last week. Last year against Baltimore, Bell had 42 yards receiving in game 1 and 77 yards (and a TD) in game 2. This is a good example of what I'm trying to talk about here.

In game one against the Rats, he was dominant on the ground (144 yards and 2 TDs). So, we didn't need to rely on his receiving too much (but he still did well with 42 yards).

In game 2 against them, rushing yards were harder to come by (48 yards...but still 2 TDs). I don't know how you define "abandoned the run", but he only had 13 carries. But in that game, he was still able to contribute through the air with 9 receptions, 77 yards and a third TD. I'd say 90 yards and 3 TDs is considerable impact despite only having 13 carries in the running game.

Bell has been special because it's really hard to take him out of a game. If you take away the run, he hurts you catching balls out of the backfield. There's no shame in Conner not being able to do this, because very few back in the history of the league have had Bell's versatility. Missing that really hurts the offense IMO.

Bell had an impact in the passing game...BUT WE STILL LOST...

Ben, as Ruthless pointed out in another thread, couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn on some of those first downs...

THAT is what needs to be corrected and Bell will not help that...and that has been my point all along...

The Steelers need to be more persistent with the running game, regardless of who is at RB...

Again, after four games last season:

Bell - 87 carries for 324 yards (3.7 YpC) and 17 receptions for 98 yards (5.8 YpR)

After four games this season:

Conner - 63 carries for 232 yards (3.7 YpC) and 18 receptions for 164 yards (9.1 YpR)

Circumstances of defense have led to the Steelers giving up on the run as opposed to last year when we were more persistent...

If Ben is having a problem with consistency, then they should lean on the run game more rather than less, regardless of who is at RB...

Bell will not “fix” the offense...

[NorthCoast]

Conner's ypc is only slightly lower than Bell's numbers last he played.... could it be simply we are seeing a decline in the OL run blocking in general?

[pittpete]

Yes DHB is hurt

[SteelBucks]

Conner's ypc is only slightly lower than Bell's numbers last he played.... could it be simply we are seeing a decline in the OL run blocking in general?

Conner has 24 less carries than Bell. That’s a fairly large number when we’re talking about 4 games. The problem is they didn’t even try to establish a running game except for the monsoon in Cleveland. Falling behind 21 to KC and 14 to Baltimore didn’t help. Even after tying both games up, they still didn’t even try to run. That’s a problem when a team becomes one dimensional on offense.

[Slapstick]

Conner has 24 less carries than Bell. That’s a fairly large number when we’re talking about 4 games. The problem is they didn’t even try to establish a running game except for the monsoon in Cleveland. Falling behind 21 to KC and 14 to Baltimore didn’t help. Even after tying both games up, they still didn’t even try to run. That’s a problem when a team becomes one dimensional on offense.

This is what I have been trying to say...

[Real Deal Steel]

Please go to CBS Sports.com

Jason La Confora reports that Steelers are not taking Bell back and will trade him. Mr . Laconfora reports that management has moved on from him as well as the team. The leading contender for Bell seems to be the Eagles.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/latest-on-leveon-bell-why-hes-done-with-steelers-eagles-should-make-the-trade-and-more-notes/