Lev Bell: "They didn't want [my contract] to work"

To be fair to Mendenhall, if the TE just makes a decision and blocks just one of those guys in the SB, he doesn't fumble and the Steelers score on that drive. AR probably doesn't get his SB win in GB.

 

Ben should send him a Christmas card every year that says something like "Thanks for making almost everyone forget that I threw a pick-6 in that game!"

 

Kemoeatu got blown up by a bull rush and Ben was hit while throwing.

 

Good Ole Rahtard. This guy didn't know when to shut his trap.

 

thanks for proving a point

 

What point? That Rahtard is a lunatic and should keep his politics to himself?

 

I mean yes, but if he steps ti the right in the pocket he avoids all that. Doesn't get the shot to Wallace, who was wide open, but he makes something positive happen and not the pick 6.

Absolutely nothing to the right.

 

Except he had made his read and had already pump faked to draw the coverage up. He just reset, was stepping into his throw, and was letting the ball go when his protection collapsed.

It's not as simple as saying he should step to the right because you saw someone open that way. He's not staring at the rush. Great quarterbacks never do, or they wouldn't be great quarterbacks. You don't expect your guard to be pushed 5 yards back into your face in such a short period of time. This was just a football play. It's something that happens. It wasn't a mistake by the quarterback. It was an offensive lineman getting overwhelmed by a defender after the quarterback made his read and was throwing the ball.

 

Leveon Bell 2017 highlights.. yeah, he was losing a step.



Just wanted to add that Bell got fat and smoked a ton of weed in the year he took off which was a terrible mistake.

Our mistake was the archaic contract rule of not giving guarantees past the first year unless if its a QB. Just dumb.

One last thing, how many playoff games have we won since Bell left?

and who holds the record for most playoff yards on the ground in their first 2 games in the NFL?

 

he was a fool, that is what MOST of us know.

a FOOL here in the end.....

 

and this proves Mendenhall wasn’t to blame because someone whiffed and Mendy was blown up in the backfield.

 

Well, exactly. Crap happens in football. When an offensive lineman blows a blocking assignment, it greatly ups the chances of turnovers.

I'm not a huge Mendenhall fan, but I'm not going to dog the man for the rest of his life when he got crushed behind the line of scrimmage after just taking a handoff. Fans make this stuff so personal.

We all wish the team won more, but as fans we had our fair share of winning. There's no need to bury and hate on a player for all eternity for making a mistake or blowing an assignment as long as the effort was there.

 

Like it or not... we ain't had a Super Bowl caliber team since Mendenhall was RB. Steelers had a Super Bowl "window" from 2014-2018... but proved in the post season they were not Super Bowl caliber.

 

The guy was so good it was stupid.

 

I really wanted to like that movie because of everyone in it, but It was ok at best.

 

I never said that I saw someone open that way. I said the pocket was wide open, which it was in hindsight. Also, Like you said **** happens. What I was saying is that Prime Ben had that ability to feel when his guys were going to lose their matchup and at least come off that and hold onto the ball. It's one of his defining traits and we've seen plenty of highlights of him pulling a throw down and shrugging off a rusher, just to save the down. That didn't happen, he tried to get it to Wallace (He was absolutely going to take that to the house if Ben had gotten it to him) got hit and as happened way too much in the play-offs, Steelers go down by 2 scores early.

 

We all wish that play went a different way, no doubt.

I just bristle when one guy gets blamed for a bad play for the rest of their lives and all the hate that some fans drop on them. Just like Kemo shouldn't get destroyed for this play, Mendenhall shouldn't get destroyed for fumbling, Ben shouldn't get destroyed for this play, and a bunch of other plays that went wrong. The team brought us all a lot of championships, winning, and a great time for the most part. This is a team game, and it takes a lot for a play to be successful.

I know it's not easy but even though I always evaluate what I see on the field and give my opinions on what I see, I try to remember that most of the plays and experiences I have had have been positive with this team while being a fan for over 50 years.

The team has had overwhelming success in that time period. I have been so lucky to have chosen the Steelers as my team when I was just a kid and they stunk! It has provided a lifetime of great memories that I hope continues for many, many more years.

 

I think if Bell played in the playoffs isntead of being hurt, we would have gone to at least one more SB.

Bell was awesome in the playoffs. Sadly he was only available for the playoffs in 2/5 years he was on the team (we didn't make the playoffs in his rookie year even though he was healthy at the end of the season, so he only missed 2 years of the playoffs). ETA: I think it is just the three games Bell started and finished (2016 Pats and KC + 2017 Jags).

It's too bad that Tomlin only discovered the concept of using a competent backup RB when we got Warren. Having Bell available in the playoffs would have been great for us.

Does anyone know off hand how many playoff games Ben, Brown, and Bell all started and finished? My guess is that number isn't very high. Can't be more than 3 since Bell played in 4 playoff games for us and left one injured.

 

I still think that Burfict single-handedly stopped the Steelers from going to the SB for the 2015 season.

Bell's last play of the season before going on IR (knee) was a Burfict tackle in November.
In the playoff game, he deliberately drove his knee into Ben's shoulder while they were both away from the ball.
And we know about the violent head shot he gave Brown. (The brain trauma probably made worse whatever mental problems AB already had.)

In the divisional round, the Steelers were leading the Broncos going into the 4th quarter, despite the league's #1 passing defense facing an injured QB without his #1 WR and using his 3rd string RB. Even one less injury (let alone being at full strength), and they likely beat the eventual SB champions.

(The Steelers had a very good back-up RB that season. Unfortunately, DeAngelo Williams injured his foot in the last game of the regular season.)