Steelers' offense stumbles with Le'Veon Bell sidelined
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Pittsburgh Steelers knew if they were to be able to find any success in their AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots, they would likely need their killer Bs – quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, wide receiver Antonio Brown, running back Le’Veon Bell – at their best.
But the Steelers took a big hit when Bell was sidelined early in the game with a left groin injury. He was limited to 20 yards on six carries as the Steelers lost 36-17, snapping their nine-game win streak and sniffing their hopes of a trip to Super Bowl LI.
Bell, who suffered the injury on a run for no gain late in the first quarter, was replaced in the Pittsburgh backfield by DeAngelo Williams, who rushed for 34 yards on 14 carries with one touchdown. In the divisional-round game against the Kansas City Chiefs last weekend he had 30 carries for 170 yards. Bell and Williams accounted for all of Pittsburgh’s rushing offense against the Patriots – a total of one touchdown, 20 carries, and 54 yards.
Losing their centerpiece was a big hit for the Steelers, leading them to change their offensive approach.
“No question,” said head coach Mike Tomlin. “But, like I said, injuries are part of the game. We didn’t do a good enough job or a quick enough job adapting to the circumstance.”
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“Le’Veon is a special (running back). We all know that,” said Roethlisberger. “We missed not having him out there. But I don’t want to take anything away from what DeAngelo did. We would have used Le’Veon in some of the pass game but … (Williams) had a lot of catches. He found his way open and made plays for us. You just can’t say enough for what he did stepping in for probably the best (running back) in the game.”
The difference in styles was noticeable to the Patriots.
“(Bell’s) a great player,” said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. “They have another great back in Williams and he did a good job. He got downhill on us. He kind of burst through the line of scrimmage, had a little different running style than Bell. They’re both great back but just different styles.
“They have great depth in their backfield. Those two guys are both really good. They’re different but they’re both explosive, hard to tackle, and good, tough runners. Whichever one of them is in there is a problem for the defense.”
Bell, who is set to become a free agent, was initially listed as questionable for a return after leaving the game but came back for just one play in the third quarter. After the game he said he’s been battling a groin issue for a while.
“It (happened) on the second play of the game,” Bell said. “Obviously, I got banged up but I still tried to give it a go, I still tried to play. It just progressively got worse. There was a run I had – I think it was a draw play -- and I ended up getting two or three yards. But I couldn’t be myself. I had not burst anymore. I felt like I was holding the team back.
“Obviously DeAngelo came in and did a good job but I couldn’t do it anymore. This is a game I wanted to play in. This is a game I was looking forward to. I knew I couldn’t be myself. I had no burst. I had a gap, there was a nice seam, I just felt like I couldn’t get there. I had to come out of the game. It’s real disappointing. We work so hard to get here. I felt like I had done a lot to help us get here. To not play and not go to battle with my teammates, it hurt.”
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