A big reason our offense has improved this year even w/o Bell

You think I have a love affair with Bell? Wow, did you ever read me wrong.

I do have no patience for the posters here who suddenly act as if he wasn't good. That's ridiculous. That doesn't mean I like the guy. I just respect his past production and talent.

I've been rooting for Conner since before he got sick while at Pitt. Please don't mistake my attempts to be fair and honest for some bias in favor of Bell.

 

There have been some huge holes...With Bells style, he waits, waits, hesitates...then hits the hole...Unlike Conner who explodes through it and creates bigger chunks and potentially longer plays as seen through Conners 4.7 ypc compared to Bells paltry 3.9...And has someone has alluded to, He's into the secondary so quickly that those smallish DB's don't seem to keen of squaring up with him...Not saying Bell is not a great player, He is...But a lot of his " greatness " comes from sheer volume..As Tomlin likes to say, " run his wheels off"

And also thinks this contributes to his paltry 3.9 ypc 7.7 ypr...and 1 run of over 20 yards last year

 

I dont think nobody was saying he wasn't any good. I actually blame the coaches for Bell's overuse last year. I also respect his past production, but I think his overuse last year was not a good thing for the team. That's was on Haley and Tomlin and it shows this year in that he is not here. I don't have the patience for posters here that said he was our star and couldn't do without him. This is Ben's team and not Bells, and the team goes as well as Ben goes.

 

Agree with the blessing in disguise, and forcing Ben for other options, but tell me how you think Bell is a better back? Is it his long runs? Is it is runs after contact? Is it his touchdown ratio to touches? Is it yards per rush? Is it yards per pass? Is it his blitz pickup?

To me the 1st two, long runs and runs after contact, and yards per rush are in Conners favor, the rest they are even.

 

Long-term, this may be true, but it's hard to quantify this in a seven-game sample size when Bell has been dominant for years.

 

I'm not gonna jump feet first into the Conner/Bell debate but I'd just like to make a couple points.
I may be mistaken but wasn't Bell the best in yards after contact in the league last year or pretty damn close to it. That's a entire season of stats. Bell has also had a couple of monstrous playoff efforts for us. I'm not trying to compare the two or go tit for tat but some of you guys( maybe not you) are really acting like Bell is some kind of bum. Maybe off the field but certainly not on it....

 

Here's my take. Do I think bell is a better player than conner and is a unique talent, for our regime conner is the better fit. We have a very dysfunctional locker room and a non disciplined coach. Two headaches on offense who care just as much about their numbers as winning is a no go. Conner is the guy who doesnt care if he runs for 20 yards long as we win. Leveon should go to philly imo. Would fit with them.

 

What is this overuse ?

He averaged 21.4 attempts per game. That’s peanuts for a running back. At least a good one.

That’s as bad as the “ran the wheels off of him” comments.

 

Vance has helped, but he's not the reason JAMES CONNER has been playing well.

There is a good bit of film now that shows besides the offensive line doing well, that the result if from JAMES CONNER.

8 men in the box. He has to make someone miss. He does.

This means HE is a solid running back.

Has nothing to do with Vance McDonald except his blocking ability on those runs. As long as Vance is HEALTHY, he is good; but that's been a big IF recently

Hopefully he can continue to show that he's worth the big $$$ the Steelers are paying him to be a top TE in this league. Still hasn't shown up Heath Miller.

He has some work to do. Until that he's been 'OK'.

 

This is perfectly stated. I remember watching Bell a while back and thinking 'damn this kid is good'. The following thought was 'I wonder how contracts will go down. probably can't keep him".. I had no idea.

Bell's time in Pittsburgh is up. I saw it coming million miles away. He was/ (is?) a very good running back. I just never saw it in him to stick around in the Burgh. Not sure what it was about him.

There are way too many weapons on this offense to be concerned about Bell.

The concern; unfortunately, is the defense. Despite their best efforts using the draft, there are no great impact players albeit TJ Watt who's done well.

 

I really don't understand how anyone can look at the stats between Bell and Conner and conclusively say that Bell is clearly a better player. We'll see how things go long term with Conner, but right now he has more scrimmage yards per game, higher yards per touch and more than double the TDs through 7 games as Bell did last year. Conner has already matched Bell's 100-yard game total and rush TD total for the entire season last year and he is on pace to have similar receiving yardage on fewer catches. He has double the number of multi-TD rush games as Bell had last year too. He is clearly outplaying Bell. They only thing I can think of that Bell did that Conner hasn't yet is line up as a WR. I think Bell is a good player, but I am starting to think he is not as good as the story-line we have been fed about him. You can call me crazy, but at the moment if our season depended on getting one yard to continue a drive and you told me I could either have Bell or Conner, I'd take Conner.

 

I don't feel bad for how Bell was utilized. He actually had more like 27 touches a game including receptions. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BellLe00.htm


Because we like to compare him to Gurley, Gurley averaged 25 touches a game last year and is averaging the same this year so far. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BellLe00.htm

So he was utilized appropriately.

 

I wouldn't say peanuts, And you also have to factor in all the pass attempts to him AND, He very very rarely EVER came off the field...Which I blame on Tomlin...Especially when you have competent backups in Blount, then DeAngelo

 

Or Gurley is likewise being used inappropriately. 400 touches per season is burned-out-like-Demarco-Murray-esque.

Just sayin’.

 

Not sayin that Bell is a better player but alot of Haley's play calling seemed to lower his stats imo.

 

Don't know, since that stiff arm we have a little something something to our step. I've seen a change in players (Ben and Conner) and fans alike since that day. Just a little more "Umph" to our step and VM, of all people, reminded us in that one play of Steeler football.

Day of the Stiff Arm.

 

Interesting info regarding the NFL's '400 touch club'.

http://insidethepylon.com/nfl/games-nfl/numbers/2018/06/13/running-backs-400-club/

"Yards per carry are one area that seems to see a significant dip in the season following a grind like a 400 touch year. In 17 of the 23 cases since 2000, the runner’s average yards per carry went down after the 400 touch season. The average for those 23 seasons was about a half a yard drop."

 

Actually Bell had 28.7 touches per game

 

The whole leagues offense is up I believe...due to refs favouring the offense. Tonnes of ticky tack calls that weren’t called in the past. Declining nfl ratings , so they made the game more offensive this year or more points.

 

at the mid way point of the season the Steelers have 726 yards from the tight end position.

To put this into context, Heath, the best tight end in team history, had a career season high of 816 yards- (not making that point because any of the current TE are as good as him of course).

So, definitely one big part of the team's offensive success is maximizing output from the TE.

 

He is the first running back this year to go over hundred yards agains the Ravens.. Sure its a small sampling but he is not going to get worse

 

I like McDonald but he has hands of stone I’m hoping it doesn’t hurt later my favorite play of the day was Josh Dobbs coming in and throwing a 20 yarder for first down probably won the game that was sweet

 

Vance has definitely stepped up and been the threat we need him to be. This biggest thing that’s made this offense better is RedZone scoring. More TD’s inside the opposing 20 is helping us out a lot. It has to do in part to Conner’s more downhill aggressive running style, better play calling, and good execution.

 

Here's 1 situation where I prefer Connor over Bell. Short yard situations/goal line situations. When the box is stacked, there's not much time to tippy toe around, you gotta hit the hole quick & fast & get what you can get...