Makes you wonder, the 12 mil a year offered sounds good right about now. He would probably still be the steelers running back, Maybe nearing the end of his career... Not just an afterthought/waste of potential
It's such an intersection situation to me. He rightly assessed that the short shelf life of an RB (especially with the milage the Steelers were putting on him) demanded that he get a better contract than the tag would offer...yet it seems that he still hit that wall during the year he was holding out, thereby accidentally proving the Steelers choice *not* to shell out to be the correct decision in the process.
He's not the first or the last to be in this situation but it so perfectly encapsulates the whole conundrum
It's really hard to say if he hit the wall or not IMO. That jets team was disgustingly bad on offense. He was the best offensive player on the Adam Gase Jets with rookie Darnold.
The leading receiver on that team was Jamison Crowder with 833 yards. Bell was 3rd with 461 yards. I distinctly remember watching the games where Darnold wasn't playing and Bell was like the only player on offense who got the ball. It went as well as you could expect.
Reminds me of my favorite tweet:
You: "I'm only 35, I have my whole life ahead of me."
~~Sports broadcaster:~~ random redditor: "Here comes the oldest player in the league. He's 32. A miracle."
https://twitter.com/_troyjohnson/status/1442556251120889860?cxt=HHwWiMCjyY7R_oQoAAAA
Yeah Steelers tagged him once and Bell played on it, tagged him a second time and Bell held out. Never played before Week 10 which is the cutoff date, and that was the year lost. He didn't collect money from the tag at all. In the next offseason, Steelers chose not to tag him again, and he went on to sign with the Jets for close to the money he wanted.
Someone once describe Roger Federer's style as "like he was acting out a predetermined victory". Bell in his prime was similar. He never looked like he was scrambling or improvising, every cut felt like it was planned before the snap.
Actually why people consider Federer as the best even though Djokovic has more (and Nadal too but not as bad); Federer won with a graceful finesse while Djokovic burns up shoes every other game
Clay Nadal is a different breed I agreeee but generally Iâd pref Roger as I see him to be way more consistent on any surface. Iâm a big Nadal guy also but Roger has sole possession of first place in my tennis ranking :)
Federer felt like if a tennis cyborg was made in a lab. He was incredibly precise, under control at all times, and made almost everything look effortless. I have enjoyed all of the big names over the past decade but to me he was as close to tennis perfection as you could achieve.
That being said I think Nadal was more fun to watch
One of those playoff games of yours, or maybe a game late into the season with playoff implications, I remember him taking a few handoffs and it looked like he was casually walking through the holes.
I know it was a buzzword, but I don't think I've ever seen another back who met that buzzword like he did. His patience, vision and balance made him probably the best back in the league for a short period of time.
His style reminded me of Marshall Faulk (my all time fave rb). I think Faulk was better, but Bell really knew how to run behind his blockers and make the right decision more often than not.
yup, it was definitely unique the way he waited almost in the hole
his route running was odd too. he'd come to an almost stop. wait for LB or safety to stop their feet and then make a cut
A lot of Steelers fans hate him for how the contract situation played out, and it did suck, but he will always be one of my favorites. Such a unique player
Yeah that's a dangerous drinking game to play but there's a reason they said it so much. After watching years of Adrian Peterson crashing through the line at full steam it was pretty jarring to see Bell shuffling around in the backfield for a couple seconds while he waited for a hole to open up
it's really hard to talk about anything else with Le'veon's style of play.
Obviously he did the other things well, he made it to that level. but there would be full seconds, a massive amount of time in the NFL, where I'd be watching him just hang out in the backfield and I'd be thinking "dude, don't you have somewhere to fucking be."
I'm 31 years old and I have never seen a running back anywhere near that lack of urgency.
The running style stood out even more because everyone's style is so relatively uniform that any variance is magnified. He did exactly what you're not supposed to do and excelled at it.
Yeah, doesn't have the breakaway speed, but you need to guess whether Bell is hitting you with power or finess, and actually beat him at the right one.
He could move slow because he made you move slow.
He was a perfect fit for Pittsburg. Some people never learn that you can make more money by taking less money. Sad to see his career end the way it did
I've said it before and I'll repeat it here. We lost Mike Munchak the same year we lost bell, and our line hasn't looked the same since. I'm not sure he would have been as successful had he stayed.
He already had a lot of injuries at that point also. Most years he was able to push surgery into the offseason though.
I think he probably wouldâve had at least 2 more years of good production than he did with the Jets. He was the only thing that offense had and I feel like everyone just stacked the box on them. He would have decent numbers, but like 50 touches a game to get them.
The real problem was that he took one of those 2 years and spent it at home. If he had just played on his second tag and then gotten a deal from whoever he would've made more than he made with the Jets.
I think every player deserves the opportunity to take advantage of dumb GMs though. Even if it was the wrong decision financially, I'm glad he pushed back to get the right to decide.
He reminded me a lot of prime Arian Foster. Every cut, every juke, every move they used throughout their runs looked like it was planned pre snap. They just *knew* how the play would develop and how the defense would be positioned for them to hit their holes at precisely the right time. Neither had the power of a Earl Campbell or the elusiveness of a Barry Sanders, but both were just so methodical in their running style and had some of the best vision of any RB.
The like couple years where cutty had aging Marshall or young Jeffries plus a solid run game behind Forte.
Also Walter Payton.
Iâd say most of the time they were trending towards great but mostly good enough.
Cutler was just Kirk if Kirk was willing to risk it for the biscuit.
Good enough to win some games bad enough to lose you some.
If Cutler ever had a solid defense like we 2006 or in the 2018-2020 period he probably could have brought home a Super Bowl.
Bears in 2013 had the 2nd best offense behind Manningâs Broncos, and Walter Payton does not need explanation. The Bears suck right now 100% but they HAVE had good offense before.
When the Steelers blew up the Triple Bs in 2019 they essentially took every dollar they would have given Bell and Brown and gave it to Ben instead.
He got like $45M in 2019 alone as a 37 year old.
He would've gotten that money either way. His inflated cap hits in the later years were due to lots of previous restructures plus QB salaries going up in general.
One year in FF I had bell, brown, and Bryant. Will never forget the Monday night game where Iâm down like 60 with all 3 of them in the lineup. They combined for about 80 fantasy points and my buddy still talks about it to this day, lol.
That offense was crazy good.
The Steelers were also one of the best offenses in the league though. There were points in time that Big Ben, AB, and Bell all led the league in yards for their positions at the same time. Ben with most passing yards, AB with most receptions and yards, and Bell with most rushing (and all purpose) yards.
Killer Bees were legit legit
People say that word a lot with Bell, but itâs absolutely true. Like how the fuck do you see openings and make those type of cuts down the field like that? Absolutely insane.
As a heavy MSU football consumer you should really watch some Kenneth Walker III, itâs almost like he can see the field from our perspective and just sees where to go.
This is peak Browns. If you donât like this, you donât like Browns football. God those teams were so awful.
Edit: if I recall correctly the browns actually came back and tied this game then lost in OT.
The Browns more or less dominated the second half and tied it 27 with 11 minutes to go in the fourth. Then they got the ball back. The Browns started running the ball down the Steelers throat and reached the Steelers 35 with about five minutes left.
In a harbinger of things to come, OC Kyle Shanahan decided that was the perfect moment to stop running the ball and let Brian Hoyer sling it instead. The Browns end up punting and lose the game on a last second FG.
He went from a top 5 line to the horrible line that yall had at that time. The line definitely fell apart a couple years after he left, but James Connor's first year he looked great too.
I always remember one of the best compliments Iâve ever heard of Edgerrin James was that he played his gaps patiently to wait for the block to fill it self out.
Prime LeVeon reminds me of the same.
I can respect a man who tells a team that wants to ride him into the dirt without any long term guarantees to get fucked. I can not respect a man who willingly plays for the jets.
I mean, we offered him somewhere around a 5yr/70 mil contract with like 20mil guaranteed and he wanted more.
I don't blame a guy for chasing a bigger bag but Steelers were still offering good money and he bet on himself and lost.
It really sucks, prime Bell is one of the most electric RB's I've ever seen.
IIRC the guarantees were the sticking point because the Steelers were clearly going to just run him straight into the ground. He ended up getting the contract he wanted from the Jets but when you factor in the opportunity cost from sitting out that year he definitely lost money. Of course he also got hit 400 fewer times, so tradeoffs.
Full guarantees at signing is what he wanted. He was going to get rolling guarantees. It is what it is. I doubt his career would be drastically different if he stayed with us. Our line got worse when Mike left and then way worse as they fell off to injury and age. Plus the MBC thing lol
Best running back in the league and I donât think it was particularly close when you consider heâd pass block rushing linebackers like they were nothing, then split out wide and roast a cornerback like it was nothing. One of my favorite Steelers
A lot of people don't give him credit for that, but he kind of brought in the era of giving your feature back a lot of reception yards. Part of what made Bell so good is that we were able to get him the ball in a lot of different situations, and we had plenty of other weapons that people couldn't sell out on him.
Yeah he was insanely good. I'm gonna say the one who really took it to the next level was Marshall Faulk though. GSOT is maybe the greatest RB receiving season of all time.
Way back?! Guess I'm old as hell then, dude played from like 95-2006 or something. That's only like ten...... Whelp, I'll just look sadly in the mirror the rest of the day
Bell didn't have elite physical traits but his vision was right up there with Barry and LT. He was also an incredible receiver, better than actual WR we had on the team at the time.
They could have if only all the B's had stayed healthy throughout a playoff run. I think just about all the playoff losses in that time came without either Brown or Bell on the field.
The last few games of the season we finally started to see Najee with some openings that looked like the ones Bell used to get and he looked like a completely different player. So excited to see how he looks behind an imrpoved Oline next year.
My issue with Najee is that he tries to 'finesse back' it too much. He needs to use his power and size more. Over the last few games, it looked like he really started to do that.
Dude had so much left but wanted to make a point but sadly the point was lost cause he was gone just 2 years later. I think he proved the wrong point accidentally.
I will never forget this play because my emotions were all over the place in such a short space in time! Firstly AB is returning that punt for an amazing TD and then kicks the punter in the head!! Then this happens!! For prescriptive Iâm a Steelers fan and obvious Bell was on my fantasy team!
A few things about this run:
Bell lost his shoe
This was the play immediately after the AB jumpkick; probably my favorite back-to-back play combination of all time.
Such a unique running style.
Guy had such precise timing when it came to hitting those holes as the play developed, not just that initial running lane post-snap.
Head on a swivel, doesn't look in one direction for more than half a second. Constantly reassessing the field and where to go.
And then he went to the Jets.
Yupp, and that was the end of himđ¤Śââď¸
Makes you wonder, the 12 mil a year offered sounds good right about now. He would probably still be the steelers running back, Maybe nearing the end of his career... Not just an afterthought/waste of potential
No way. We ran the treads off of him. He would've been toast around 2020
It's such an intersection situation to me. He rightly assessed that the short shelf life of an RB (especially with the milage the Steelers were putting on him) demanded that he get a better contract than the tag would offer...yet it seems that he still hit that wall during the year he was holding out, thereby accidentally proving the Steelers choice *not* to shell out to be the correct decision in the process. He's not the first or the last to be in this situation but it so perfectly encapsulates the whole conundrum
It's really hard to say if he hit the wall or not IMO. That jets team was disgustingly bad on offense. He was the best offensive player on the Adam Gase Jets with rookie Darnold. The leading receiver on that team was Jamison Crowder with 833 yards. Bell was 3rd with 461 yards. I distinctly remember watching the games where Darnold wasn't playing and Bell was like the only player on offense who got the ball. It went as well as you could expect.
*cries in melvin gordon*
Ummmm. He's 31. If he was still rostered now he would not be starting anywhere.
Reminds me of my favorite tweet: You: "I'm only 35, I have my whole life ahead of me." ~~Sports broadcaster:~~ random redditor: "Here comes the oldest player in the league. He's 32. A miracle." https://twitter.com/_troyjohnson/status/1442556251120889860?cxt=HHwWiMCjyY7R_oQoAAAA
Friends don't let friends become Running Backs.
He took like a year+ off before going there right? Holding out for a contract or something?
I can't believe this was 5 years ago already....
Yeah Steelers tagged him once and Bell played on it, tagged him a second time and Bell held out. Never played before Week 10 which is the cutoff date, and that was the year lost. He didn't collect money from the tag at all. In the next offseason, Steelers chose not to tag him again, and he went on to sign with the Jets for close to the money he wanted.
Ahhh thatâs right, the second tag. I remember all of this now.
Turns out the grass isnât always greener. But the Jerseys were.
prairie dog style
Someone once describe Roger Federer's style as "like he was acting out a predetermined victory". Bell in his prime was similar. He never looked like he was scrambling or improvising, every cut felt like it was planned before the snap.
Actually why people consider Federer as the best even though Djokovic has more (and Nadal too but not as bad); Federer won with a graceful finesse while Djokovic burns up shoes every other game
The big 3 are close enough that I think any can be considered the best.
Federer above both of those guys any day. Especially since Djoko and his dad kinda support Russia so fuck him and his dad (as a fellow European).
>any day Well, maybe not a day on clay but I agree with your general sentiment. Seriously, there's clay specialists and then there's Rafael Nadal.
Clay Nadal is a different breed I agreeee but generally Iâd pref Roger as I see him to be way more consistent on any surface. Iâm a big Nadal guy also but Roger has sole possession of first place in my tennis ranking :)
Federer felt like if a tennis cyborg was made in a lab. He was incredibly precise, under control at all times, and made almost everything look effortless. I have enjoyed all of the big names over the past decade but to me he was as close to tennis perfection as you could achieve. That being said I think Nadal was more fun to watch
Not sure my liver fully recovered from the years of âdrink every time an announcer talking about Bell says âpatientââ
One of those playoff games of yours, or maybe a game late into the season with playoff implications, I remember him taking a few handoffs and it looked like he was casually walking through the holes. I know it was a buzzword, but I don't think I've ever seen another back who met that buzzword like he did. His patience, vision and balance made him probably the best back in the league for a short period of time.
His style reminded me of Marshall Faulk (my all time fave rb). I think Faulk was better, but Bell really knew how to run behind his blockers and make the right decision more often than not.
Faulk had more natural athleticism. Bell ran a 4.6, Faulk ran a 4.35.
Faulk is an all-time great. Bell was very good.
yup, it was definitely unique the way he waited almost in the hole his route running was odd too. he'd come to an almost stop. wait for LB or safety to stop their feet and then make a cut
I like to do this in madden. People don't often expect you to reach such a slow change of pace. It's similar to a hesitation move in basketball
I bet it was the 2016 WC game vs Miami
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRGPkznjB6A
A lot of Steelers fans hate him for how the contract situation played out, and it did suck, but he will always be one of my favorites. Such a unique player
Yeah, but he was only able to do that because our OLine was one of the best in the league. On most teams, he can't run like that.
Yeah that's a dangerous drinking game to play but there's a reason they said it so much. After watching years of Adrian Peterson crashing through the line at full steam it was pretty jarring to see Bell shuffling around in the backfield for a couple seconds while he waited for a hole to open up
Itâs crazy how many other rbs said they tried the same thing and then just went down with TFL
it's really hard to talk about anything else with Le'veon's style of play. Obviously he did the other things well, he made it to that level. but there would be full seconds, a massive amount of time in the NFL, where I'd be watching him just hang out in the backfield and I'd be thinking "dude, don't you have somewhere to fucking be." I'm 31 years old and I have never seen a running back anywhere near that lack of urgency.
The running style stood out even more because everyone's style is so relatively uniform that any variance is magnified. He did exactly what you're not supposed to do and excelled at it.
Wasnât as fluid as someone like Barry or even Shady but somehow still broke everyoneâs ankles.
Itâs interesting to compare; he definitely has more of a âstaticâ feel to his runs
I mean he was a lot bigger and heavier. He kind of ran like a power back but he had elite lateral elusiveness as well.
Yeah, doesn't have the breakaway speed, but you need to guess whether Bell is hitting you with power or finess, and actually beat him at the right one. He could move slow because he made you move slow.
It was methodical - you can almost feel the wheels turning in his head as he moves. Slightly bias but I love Bell so much and always will
He was a perfect fit for Pittsburg. Some people never learn that you can make more money by taking less money. Sad to see his career end the way it did
The Jets paid him $28M to play 17 games, from a purely money standpoint he ended doing pretty okay
I've said it before and I'll repeat it here. We lost Mike Munchak the same year we lost bell, and our line hasn't looked the same since. I'm not sure he would have been as successful had he stayed. He already had a lot of injuries at that point also. Most years he was able to push surgery into the offseason though.
I think he probably wouldâve had at least 2 more years of good production than he did with the Jets. He was the only thing that offense had and I feel like everyone just stacked the box on them. He would have decent numbers, but like 50 touches a game to get them.
The real problem was that he took one of those 2 years and spent it at home. If he had just played on his second tag and then gotten a deal from whoever he would've made more than he made with the Jets.
Thatâs fair and you would know your team better than I would.
I think every player deserves the opportunity to take advantage of dumb GMs though. Even if it was the wrong decision financially, I'm glad he pushed back to get the right to decide.
His style was my favorite to watch in pitt
actually he went to michigan state
He reminded me a lot of prime Arian Foster. Every cut, every juke, every move they used throughout their runs looked like it was planned pre snap. They just *knew* how the play would develop and how the defense would be positioned for them to hit their holes at precisely the right time. Neither had the power of a Earl Campbell or the elusiveness of a Barry Sanders, but both were just so methodical in their running style and had some of the best vision of any RB.
Anybody know what exactly happened to him? Cause I remember he was a top back for like 2 or 3 years and then I just never heard of him
He was on the Ravensâ practice squad in 2021, donât think he signed with anyone last year.
Held out for a year, then went to the Jets and went from the best situation to the worst.
Why is it that as soon as our defense got way better the offense got way worse
Points go up, points go down. Can't explain it
Magnets
How do they work?
And I donât wanna hear it from a scientist, yâall motha fuckas lyin and gettin me pissed đĄđĄ
Law of Conservation of Points
I read this in Bill O'Reilley's voice.
If you ever figure it out, do me a favor and let me know.
When have you ever had a great offense.....?
The like couple years where cutty had aging Marshall or young Jeffries plus a solid run game behind Forte. Also Walter Payton. Iâd say most of the time they were trending towards great but mostly good enough. Cutler was just Kirk if Kirk was willing to risk it for the biscuit. Good enough to win some games bad enough to lose you some. If Cutler ever had a solid defense like we 2006 or in the 2018-2020 period he probably could have brought home a Super Bowl.
Your bar for 'great' is pretty much below everyone else's in the NFL lol
Bears in 2013 had the 2nd best offense behind Manningâs Broncos, and Walter Payton does not need explanation. The Bears suck right now 100% but they HAVE had good offense before.
Cutler, Forte, Ashlon Jeffery, Brandon Marshall, and Martellus Bennett.
Spend a lot on offense, defense goes down. Spend a lot on defense, offense goes down.
Antonio imo was the main culprit. Once he went bonkers there was no replacing his production.
Mr. Big Culprit
Mr Backpedal Cause
Mr. Blown Camaraderie
When the Steelers blew up the Triple Bs in 2019 they essentially took every dollar they would have given Bell and Brown and gave it to Ben instead. He got like $45M in 2019 alone as a 37 year old.
He would've gotten that money either way. His inflated cap hits in the later years were due to lots of previous restructures plus QB salaries going up in general.
Most extreme example is looking at 2013-2015 broncos
That's the reality of a salary cap. Wasn't TJ's contract the highest defensive contract ever at the time he signed it?
Age and one of your star receivers went completely nuts.
Perfectly balanced, just the way it is supposed to be.
Thatâs generally how it goes lol
Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
Peak LeâVeon Bell was a freaking force of nature. Feels weird to see this was almost a decade ago.
No it wasnât, 2014 was just 2 or 3 years ago
Yeah I remember just like 5 years ago the Saints won the Super Bowl right? Right...?
THAT WAS ALREADY FIVE YEARS AGO.
Haha you canât believe Saints won the SB 5 years ago? (13 really which is crazy lol)
Man, Who Dat nation felt like it was just yesterday lol. Time flies by way too quickly.
Itâs like, it flies by, but it also draaaaaags on depending on circumstances
No it wasn't I just bought my Gio jersey like a week ago
First year playing fantasy was his breakout year. He was my favorite player for a while there.
what the fuck man
Man that offensive fun to watch when him, AB, and Ben got going.
The Killer B's, including Boswell and Bince Billiams.
Martavis Bryant was also an original Killer B. This was his rookie year
One year in FF I had bell, brown, and Bryant. Will never forget the Monday night game where Iâm down like 60 with all 3 of them in the lineup. They combined for about 80 fantasy points and my buddy still talks about it to this day, lol. That offense was crazy good.
I think Tomlin actually deserves way more props than he gets for being able to get the best out of those three for years. Especially AB.
No, not it wasnât lol
His agility was completely cracked
Especially since he was like almost 250 lbs in college and he shed a lot of weight
This offense with like the 2019 steeler defense wouldâve beaten the shit out of everyone. But we either had one or the other
Yeah seeing 17 points (before the score) mid 2nd quarter is the most surprising thing about this clip
Wasn't that when the browns were extra shitty though?
The Steelers were also one of the best offenses in the league though. There were points in time that Big Ben, AB, and Bell all led the league in yards for their positions at the same time. Ben with most passing yards, AB with most receptions and yards, and Bell with most rushing (and all purpose) yards. Killer Bees were legit legit
Dude had vision like no other.
People say that word a lot with Bell, but itâs absolutely true. Like how the fuck do you see openings and make those type of cuts down the field like that? Absolutely insane.
As a heavy MSU football consumer you should really watch some Kenneth Walker III, itâs almost like he can see the field from our perspective and just sees where to go.
This is peak Browns. If you donât like this, you donât like Browns football. God those teams were so awful. Edit: if I recall correctly the browns actually came back and tied this game then lost in OT.
That âtackleâ by 95 might be the worst Iâve seen in a hot minute.
What a weak ass tackle by Myles GarâŚ. Oh wait we didnât have him yet. Who TF is thatâŚ.?
Armonty Bryant?
I was looking for someone else who noticed 95's piss poor effort. Dude jogged after that attempt
Close, the browns tied it up in the fourth quarter, just for suisham to kick the game winner in the fourth.
Peak Browns and peak Steelers in the same game
The Browns more or less dominated the second half and tied it 27 with 11 minutes to go in the fourth. Then they got the ball back. The Browns started running the ball down the Steelers throat and reached the Steelers 35 with about five minutes left. In a harbinger of things to come, OC Kyle Shanahan decided that was the perfect moment to stop running the ball and let Brian Hoyer sling it instead. The Browns end up punting and lose the game on a last second FG.
Man did this guy drop off a cliff after he left the Steelers.
Eye test he still looked good. He lost probably 1/4 step bjt with that running style it killed his production. That and Adam gaze
He went from a top 5 line to the horrible line that yall had at that time. The line definitely fell apart a couple years after he left, but James Connor's first year he looked great too.
And y'all have no offensive line during his time there.
He carried that Jets team *hard* the year he was there, but his body paid the price for it.
He had five yards of blocking before he was touched on this play.
Also it should be pointed out the great hustle and key block by AB at the end of that play
Iâm also pretty certain this is the game AB spartan kicked the punter
[ŃдаНонО]
Mr Bell Clearance
I was most shocked by the solid block at the end.
AB was a crazy person off the field, but he was a baller on it.
Just look at that downfield blocking. Everyone has someone.
I always remember one of the best compliments Iâve ever heard of Edgerrin James was that he played his gaps patiently to wait for the block to fill it self out. Prime LeVeon reminds me of the same.
He didnât run to get tackled. He was incredible at âwaitingâ for a gap to form then hit it.
It's a shame this man could have been one of the greats, but decided to sit out a year and then go to Adam Gase's Jets.
I can respect a man who tells a team that wants to ride him into the dirt without any long term guarantees to get fucked. I can not respect a man who willingly plays for the jets.
I mean, we offered him somewhere around a 5yr/70 mil contract with like 20mil guaranteed and he wanted more. I don't blame a guy for chasing a bigger bag but Steelers were still offering good money and he bet on himself and lost. It really sucks, prime Bell is one of the most electric RB's I've ever seen.
IIRC the guarantees were the sticking point because the Steelers were clearly going to just run him straight into the ground. He ended up getting the contract he wanted from the Jets but when you factor in the opportunity cost from sitting out that year he definitely lost money. Of course he also got hit 400 fewer times, so tradeoffs.
Full guarantees at signing is what he wanted. He was going to get rolling guarantees. It is what it is. I doubt his career would be drastically different if he stayed with us. Our line got worse when Mike left and then way worse as they fell off to injury and age. Plus the MBC thing lol
He was so fucking good. Wish he didn't sit out the year like a dummy.
Best running back in the league and I donât think it was particularly close when you consider heâd pass block rushing linebackers like they were nothing, then split out wide and roast a cornerback like it was nothing. One of my favorite Steelers
Back then he was so good in running and catching the ball.
A lot of people don't give him credit for that, but he kind of brought in the era of giving your feature back a lot of reception yards. Part of what made Bell so good is that we were able to get him the ball in a lot of different situations, and we had plenty of other weapons that people couldn't sell out on him.
[ŃдаНонО]
Matt Forte. One of the most underrated two way players of all time. Dude would have like 1000+/500+ yard seasons on the reg.
Bell's best season he had 854 recieving yards. He had 4 seasons over 600. I get that other RBs did it, but imo he took it to the next level.
Yeah he was insanely good. I'm gonna say the one who really took it to the next level was Marshall Faulk though. GSOT is maybe the greatest RB receiving season of all time.
Bell effectively played as a slot receiver at times lol
Marshall Faulk if weâre going way back
Way back?! Guess I'm old as hell then, dude played from like 95-2006 or something. That's only like ten...... Whelp, I'll just look sadly in the mirror the rest of the day
Marshall Faulk for sure
The holdout poster child!
....on what not to do. Epic bag fumbler behind Schroeder.
About to see Bijan do this, he doesnât run as âpatientâ but he cuts and wiggles through spaces very well
Bell didn't have elite physical traits but his vision was right up there with Barry and LT. He was also an incredible receiver, better than actual WR we had on the team at the time.
Very good run
The âBBBâ era of the Steelers felt like a super team. Surprised they didnât make another legit SB run
They could have if only all the B's had stayed healthy throughout a playoff run. I think just about all the playoff losses in that time came without either Brown or Bell on the field.
The last few games of the season we finally started to see Najee with some openings that looked like the ones Bell used to get and he looked like a completely different player. So excited to see how he looks behind an imrpoved Oline next year.
My issue with Najee is that he tries to 'finesse back' it too much. He needs to use his power and size more. Over the last few games, it looked like he really started to do that.
Love to see Decastro downfield just crushing people
Oh, what could have beenâŚ
Is this the game where AB drop kicked a guy?
Bell shouldâve never sat that season out in his prime. He wasnât the same after that. He was his own end.
That team was so fun to watch.
Yo fuck this guy. \- My 2018 fantasy team
::PTSD::
Such bad tackling đ The browns almost came back and won this game actually. Which is crazy to say
It's fun to rewatch this clip many times in a row each time focusing on a different defender. He literally made everyone look dumb.
The only points given up by the browns d in the second half was the game winning fg
And then he did a Lamar, missed millions and sank is valueâŚ
Honestly loved the Triple Bs era, even with all the drama.
The drama was why I loved it lol
Dude had so much left but wanted to make a point but sadly the point was lost cause he was gone just 2 years later. I think he proved the wrong point accidentally.
hold on #73
took waaaaay too long to find this
Pretty wild that steelers lineup never won a super bowl.
Remember those times. Steelers might be going through some rough times but the brahns is the brahns forever
He threw away a HOF career
Way to ruin your career
Dude was so slick
God, I miss him.
Wonderful vision and use of space.
Amazing what a good O line can do for a RB... just look at what happened to him on the Jets
He was fun to watch in his prime
His change of direction is like no other
Feel like bijan robinson has the same unique style bell had. Crazy jump cuts and vision, along with the receiving ability.
He never should've left đĽ
Guy had such good vision
This was 9 years ago!? Time fells so weird man
I will never forget this play because my emotions were all over the place in such a short space in time! Firstly AB is returning that punt for an amazing TD and then kicks the punter in the head!! Then this happens!! For prescriptive Iâm a Steelers fan and obvious Bell was on my fantasy team!
Wasnât this after AB kicked the punter?
yes, same game
Browns lmao. Le'Veon was so fucking good dude.
Le'Veon Bell VS The Browns: 6-2; 147 rushes for 613 yards (average 77); 4.04y/a; 3 TDs Receiving: 34 catches for 266 yards (average 38); 7.82y/r
He was good, but I think Najee Harris is going to prove that he's better.
Mr Blocking Critically
A few things about this run: Bell lost his shoe This was the play immediately after the AB jumpkick; probably my favorite back-to-back play combination of all time.
Crazy how quick this dude fell off
Jag 17-0 Eagles tho âŚ