The Pittsburgh Steelers Need to Slow Down with Le'Veon Bell

The Pittsburgh Steelers have officially hit the home stretch of the NFL regular season. There are four games to go, including two against the Cincinnati Bengals. Will the key to winning out and assuring a playoff spot be riding the spectacular play of running back Le’Veon Bell? Or are the Steelers asking too much of the second-year back and need to find another way?

Bell’s season has been nothing short of remarkable. The former Michigan State star has emerged as one of the best all-around running backs in the league. Bell has amassed 1,046 yards rushing to go along with 643 yards receiving. These graphs from FindTheBest.com give you a nice picture of just how much the Steelers rely on Bell as not only a rusher, but also a receiver.

To offer a little perspective, FindTheBest.com ranks Bell second among the five leading rushers in the NFL in terms of what percent of the carries they are responsible for.

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Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray has a staggering 80 percent of the carries for Dallas. Tied with Bell at 66 percent is Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, followed by Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch at 57 percent and finally Baltimore’s Justin Forsett with 52 percent.

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It’s important to note as well that the 20 percent attributed to running back LeGarrette Blount is now gone. Against the New Orleans Saints last Sunday, Bell had 21 carries, with only a single carry going to another running back. Can Bell and the Steelers really maintain this sort of pace for the remainder of the season and potentially into the playoffs?

If you ask Bell, he’ll tell you yes. Bell told Mike Prisuta of Steelers.com that he is more than willing to accept a heavier workload if it helps the team win. Even going back to his time at Michigan State, being the feature back has never been an issue.

"I had 50 touches in college," Bell said. "The Boise State game (in 2012) I had 44 carries (for 217 yards) and six catches (for 55 more), first game of the season. ‘Coach T’ loved that about me. He knew I could carry the load if asked."

Unfortunately, Bell isn’t carrying the ball against Boise State defenders this weekend. Instead, he’s running against guys like Geno Atkins and Rey Maualuga, who are more than willing to make him regret wanting such a heavy workload.

Coach Mike Tomlin also feels like Bell is fine being the primary and essentially only running back in the game plan. NFL.com’s Kevin Patra reported on Tomlin’s desire to keep feeding the football to Bell without reservation.

However, on the other side of this debate, we have Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben discussed Bell on his weekly show on 93.7 The Fan: 

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I don't know of a running back since I've been here that has basically been able to play every single snap, but you do have to be careful. I hope we don't run him into the ground if you will, but it's that stretch of the year where everyone's going to give it everything they have. He probably wants to be in there every single play because that's the type of player he is. 

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It is noble of Bell to be willing to shoulder this burden, however, I’m not sure it is prudent. Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is all-in with Bell being the guy to power this team down the stretch:

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I'm not worried about Bell's workload. In fact, I'm suggesting it increases, which doesn't seem possible. He has participated in 97 percent of the Steelers' offensive snaps the past two weeks. Let's get that percentage up to 100. It's not like the Steelers possess a better blocking back, or a better pass-catching back, or a better third-down back, or a better offensive player. 

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While I respect Rossi’s point and what he’s saying, I disagree. The Steelers franchise has backed itself into a corner by having only one viable running back on the roster. That doesn’t mean you work his wheels off—especially when you have a team with the weapons around him like the Steelers do.

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

Instead of putting Bell on the field for 100 percent of snaps, how about offensive coordinator Todd Haley finds a way to get rookie running back Dri Archer involved in the rushing offense that doesn’t pound his 174-pound body between the guards?

The Steelers can also take some of the burden off of Bell by using the passing game as an extension of the run game. One of the keys to the offense is being successful is creating manageable second-down situations. That means if Pittsburgh can get four or five yards off of a quick slant or wide receiver screen, it is just as good as a run, and Bell isn’t taking another hit.

I understand the desire to do whatever it takes to win now, and Bell is a truly special player. Nevertheless, I have no desire to see his career shortened because this franchise is unwilling to make the necessary adjustments to keep him healthy and still be productive in the offense.