There were certainly a fair amount of questions being asked after last week’s embarrassing loss to the Cleveland Browns. All of a sudden, fans of the franchise are starting to wonder if this team is set for another mediocre season in 2014. While most of the focus has been on a struggling defense, the offense could actually be better on the field. One way they can improve is incorporating Le’Veon Bell a bit more in the offense on the ground and in the air.
So far this year, fantasy football favorite Ben Roethlisberger has been throwing the football a bit more than usual. He’s mostly hooking up with Antonio Brown, with Markus Wheaton also being a reliable target. To balance things out, Bell gets quite a few touches on the ground. However, they could add another dimension to the offense by using him more as a receiver out of the backfield.
In the 1st few games of the regular season, Bell has 28 catches for 251 yards. That might seem like decent numbers for a running back, but those numbers could be better if Roethlisberger looks for him a bit more. He is constantly lining up on passing plays and running routes, so it makes sense to at least consider throwing him the football if he is open.
Every quarterback likes to throw to a guy who is reliable out there on the field. Bell has been a very capable receiver going all the way back to his days at Michigan State. He is very good at not only catching the football, but doing something with it once it is in his hands. He is a tough guy to bring down, and defenses are finding it very hard to limit him out there on the field.
Pittsburgh knows that they have a pretty good weapon with Bell at running back, but they could probably use him and little bit more. Since the offense is probably going to be forced to carry the defense this year for Pittsburgh, they need him to be sharp if they have any playoff aspirations.
