Le’Veon Bell’s big return puts NFL on notice

Le’Veon Bell is back, and maybe better than ever.

The 4th year running back made his return last weekend, following a 3 game suspension for missing one, or several drug tests. The addition of Bell was thought to spark an already potent Pittsburgh Steelers offense; on Sunday, Le’Veon didn’t disappoint.

In his first action since suffering a knee injury in Week 8 of 2015, Bell piled up stats in Pittsburgh’s 43-16 rout of the Kansas City Chiefs. Number 26 rushed for 144 yards on 18 carries, while adding another 34 receiving yards on 5 receptions.

That’s not the most impressive thing about Bell’s return: it was the ease in which he has quickly caught up with his peers around the league. Despite a three game head start by the NFL’s other running backs, Bell has already jumped to the 30th ranked RB in the league in rushing yards… after one game.

Bell has also halved the ground gains by his three game replacement, DeAngelo Williams, who posted 265 rushing yards in the first three games, and lead the NFL in rushing through the first two weeks of the season. (With a lack of carries in Week 3 against the Eagles, and a drop in production following Bell’s return last Sunday, Williams still ranks 14th in rushing yards.)

Bell also matched Williams’ 3-game, 5 reception, 30 yard average as a receiver (5 catches, 34 yards).

This was against a Chiefs defense which created eight takeaways and two touchdowns against this Sunday’s opponent, the New York Jets. The Chiefs’ poor performance on defense against the Steelers would drop them among the league’s worst against the run, while Pittsburgh looks ahead to New York’s 2nd best run D. (The Steelers are currently ranked 4th in run defense, allowing 78.2 yards per game.)

While the Jets game looks like a challenge for Bell, with a stout defensive line, the numbers are skewed by a poor pass defense which ranks marginally lower than Pittsburgh (2o more yards per average given up, per game than the Steelers).

The Jets have allowed over 1,100 passing yards, 8 passing touchdowns and 116 average passer rating in their first 4 games. This opens the door for Bell, who was the second-most targeted receiver on the team in 2014, catching the second-most passes for Pittsburgh the last time he played 16 games (only behind Antonio Brown).

Bell’s success was similar before being lost to injury in 2015. The Steelers back gained 692 yards from scrimmage in 6 games: 556 yards rushing and 136 yards receiving, including 3 rushing touchdowns. Bell was on pace to shatter records, ranking in the Top 10 in the league in runs of 20+ yards, 100+ yard rushing games, runs for first downs and total rushing yards.

Only Baltimore’s Justin Forsett had more rushing yards than Bell; on 20 more carries and 2 additional games played.

The year prior? Bell lead the AFC in rushing with 1,361 yards, with 8 touchdowns on the ground, while adding another 854 receiving yards: the 19th ranked receiver in all of football that season.

That figure bested a number of NFL teams’ top receivers: as a running back.

Since entering the NFL, Bell leads the NFL with an average of 120.7 yards from scrimmage, per game. Thus, the early performance by Bell already catapults him into the same position as he left: an elite dual-threat weapon in an explosive offense.

NFL teams: you have been warned.

The “Juice is on the loose.”


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