The bell is calling Le’Veon Bell back to Pittsburgh

Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong. Ding.

Do you hear it? The Bell ringing? It’s calling Le’Veon. It’s time for Le’Veon Bell to return to Pittsburgh. He says he will do so in week seven. The black and gold need to hope it won’t be too late by then.

Embed from Getty Images

Through the preseason and even through the first couple of weeks of the regular season, I was dismissive of the Steelers needing Bell’s services. I was convinced James Conner was a perfect replacement for this season and beyond. He sure did look the part against the Cleveland Browns, didn’t he?

But then reality hit. After four games, he has a total of 232 rushing yards. Sure, I get it. The team has been down and they’ve had to throw the ball far more than the game plan had originally laid out. I’ll buy that as part of the reason his numbers aren’t massive. But it’s the yards per carry average, 3.2, that concerns me.

Conner doesn’t appear to have the same abilities as Bell and he certainly doesn’t command the same respect from the opposition that Bell does.

Bell will need to win back the fans, if he returns and plays for the Steelers but more importantly, he’ll need to win back his teammates. An impact player can do that. Let’s face it, Bell is the impact player this team desperately needs at this point. He can carry the load on the ground. He can provide Ben Roethlisberger another target through the air and he can force defenses to pay attention to him, hopefully assisting Antonio Brown to become a more impactful player again.

Brown has struggled in the absence of Bell. It’s time the Killer B’s reunite and see what this offense can really do.

Embed from Getty Images

But it’s not just about the offense, which is too dependent upon Roethlisberger at the moment, another reason Bell needs to return. It’s about a defense who can’t stop anyone right now. They need to remain on the sidelines, that’s the best defense this team can throw out there. Bell enables that more than anyone. He can help the Steelers sustain a drive, maybe one of five minutes or more. Pounding the football is what this team needs to do, Conner doesn’t appear to be able to do that. It appears the answer is Bell.

Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong. Ding.

Do you hear it? I do.


Suggested articles from our sponsors