Le’Veon Bell Key to Steelers Week 3 Win

Here’s a fair warning to the rest of the NFL: the same unit that dropped 43 points on the San Francisco 49ers without breaking a sweat last week now welcomes back the running back through whom so much of their offense runs.

Le’Veon Bell returns to the Pittsburgh Steelers this week after serving his two-game suspension for a DUI charge last season. Pittsburgh’s resident renaissance man will travel with the team to St. Louis, where they will meet a Rams team that made the inconsistent Kirk Cousins and the Redskins look like the Greatest Show on Turf just last week.

The Rams were carved up by third-round rookie Matt Jones, who rumbled for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 19 carries. Washington’s unstoppable run game paved the way for Cousins to throw only 4 incompletions in 27 attempts, paving the way for a smooth 24-10 victory.

The Steelers will be hoping a fresh Bell has the same effect on a deflated Rams outfit. But it isn’t just Bell’s patient but relentless running style that should worry St. Louis.

His skill set as a receiver out of the backfield is unmatched, so much so that some are even expecting the Steelers to line up Bell and his in-form replacement, DeAngelo Williams, out of the same shotgun formation, with Bell peeling out into the slot as he so often does to create some dangerous mismatches.

However, it might be Bell’s proficiency and rapid improvement as a pass blocker that could prove the difference in Sunday’s affair. Even without Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey, the Steelers lead the NFL in quarterback hits allowed, with only five through two games.

Such a stat would be unfamiliar territory for Pittsburgh’s offensive lines of years past, which regularly asked Ben Roethlisberger to do it all himself on passing downs.

A much-improved line under the tutelage of Mike Munchak is finally showing the NFL what Big Ben can do with more than two seconds with the ball in his hands. Bell should be of immediate help in that department too, especially against the Rams’ formidable front seven.

But for all the wonderful wrinkles Le’Veon Bell adds to this already potent offense, Steeler Nation will be most excited to see him back on the field, running hard, signalling first downs and dancing into the endzone once again.