NO BELL IS NO PROBLEM FOR PITTSBURGH
By STEVE KING
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Browns fans should not get too excited – or excited at all, really – that Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell is still holding out and as such will not play in Sunday’s regular-season opener at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Would Pittsburgh’s offense be stronger – and thus the team stronger – if Bell were available? Of course. The Groveport (Ohio) Madison High School product is the best back in the NFL.
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But that organization has been through this kind of thing for years, with players leaving and going elsewhere for more money. The Steelers are frugal. They do not give out many big contracts. They believe in their drafting and feel comfortable that, with the next-man-up philosophy that they share with the two other top organizations in the NFL over the last 20 years, the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers, they always have a capable young player waiting in the wings to take over. In this case, it’s Pitt product James Conner.
So the Steelers will be just fine with no Bell. Their offense will be just fine. They aren’t going to come to a grinding halt. Their roster is deep and talented.
They still have Ben Roethlisberger, one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, throwing to a group of excellent wide receivers led by Antonio Brown, the best wideout in the game. With that, then, they’ll move the ball by using the pass a little more than they might otherwise have done. That’s all. It’s no more complicated than that. No one in the organization is in any kind of panic.
In fact, if anything, the whole situation might have helped galvanize the team a bit because the other Steelers, particularly the offensive linemen, are ticked off that Bell has not shown up for the season and is holding out for more money. They think he’s already making a pretty penny – certainly a lot more than they are – and should be back with them as they begin playing the games that count.
The Cleveland defense, which has been the strength of the team throughout the preseason and looks to continue to be the key, especially through the first part of the regular season as the offense comes together, had better be stout on Sunday if the Browns harbor any chance of pulling off the upset.
