Le’Veon Bell struggles for extra yardage vs. the Kansas City defense Sunday at Heinz Field. — GETTY
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
One last look at the Steelers’ last game …
• Le’Veon Bell almost surely will be named team MVP, and he’s even been mentioned for NFL MVP. But he’s also had single-game performances of 59, 57, 20, 36, 47 and 63 rushing yards, the latter coming in the 20-12 victory Sunday over the Chiefs. Also in the Kansas City game, he had just one catch for 9 yards.
Long story short: If an opponent wants to take Bell out of the game, to date, it has.
Last week, Mike Smith, the Falcons’ coach, stated bluntly afterward, “We saw what he was doing. We weren’t about to let him beat us.”
This time, Tamba Hali, the Chiefs’ excellent linebacker, said, “We wanted to stop the running game because we saw this guy on film and he’s a good runner.”
So it’s no coincidence, no accident. Nor is it, as Mike Tomlin assessed Bell’s numbers the past two weeks in his Monday press conference, “just that time of year where teams are buckling down.” It’s more than that. It’s that opposing defensive coordinators are making up their minds to erase Bell from the equation — most DCs, including Dick LeBeau, love to scratch the run off the list first — then do their best to contain the Steelers’ passing game. They’re lining up eight or nine in the box and, in Kansas City’s case, utilizing only one linebacker — Josh Mauga — in regular pass coverage.
It works, too. Bell needed 20 carries for those 63 yards, averaging 3.2 per carry with a long of 7. His TD was from 1 yard.
I asked the kid if it might be a little frustrating:
Healthy attitude, but this is obviously a healthy concern, as well. The Steelers need a productive Bell — regardless of the scheme they face — to protect the play-action. What’s more, they need to be able to hit Bell with passes, another option Kansas City effectively removed.
The Bengals might be a welcome sight in this regard. The most recent encounter was only three weeks ago, and Bell, of course, bull-rushed that defense for 185 yards on the ground, another 50 through the air. It was breathtaking not only in how Bell and the line dominated but also how Cincinnati never seemed to adjust, even when the same play — Georgia counter, with David DeCastro or Heath Miller pulling to the left — kept clicking again and again and again.
Strikingly, Tomlin on Monday answered a question on whether the Bengals might alter that approach — he dismisses most such questions as being better asked of the other side — by strongly suggesting they won’t: “I think we’re too far down the road for that. I think your personality is your personality in a lot of ways at this juncture of the season. They’re not going to get out of their personality in order to minimize his impact on the game. I’m sure they’re comfortable that they can do that within the personality of what they have employed right now.”
The Steelers should only hope.
• Bell didn’t make much headway with the ball, but he played a big part blocking: When the Chiefs blitzed, Ben Roethlisberger completed 6 of 7 passes for 63 yards. That’s a credit to all concerned, but the running back stands out.
• There is absolutely zero indication that Roethlisberger’s right knee was injured on that leg whip by Vance Walker. And I’m going to restate that for emphasis, which you can read into any way you want: Absolutely zero.
• The Steelers’ highest-graded defensive player Sunday will surprise no one: James Harrison rated a 5.9 per Pro Football Focus, followed by Cam Heyward’s 4.9 for annihilating poor Kansas City guard Jeff Linkenbach all afternoon, then Jason Worilds’ 2.4 after two sacks. Between those three gentlemen, one could count four hits on Alex Smith, nine hurries and six sacks. That’s getting it done on the pass rush.
• It’s worth noting, too, that Mike Mitchell had an atypically high 1.2, fourth-best of any starter. And it certainly didn’t escape his notice that his solid day coincided with a strong pass rush like the one he had in Carolina: “When those guys are pressuring like that up front, I’ve got the easiest job in the world, just trying to take care of the deep ball.”
• Expect Tomlin and LeBeau to continue to work Vince Williams and Sean Spence into the inside linebacker rotation, especially since Ryan Shazier keeps taking lumps. And man, is he ever taking those. In 20 snaps, he recorded as many tackles, two, as he missed. Most painful to observe, on that huge fourth-down stop of Jamaal Charles, as all his teammates were swarming right, Shazier was being shoved violently to the left.
“There are three different linebackers playing alongside Lawrence Timmons inside,” Tomlin said. “All three guys are proving their worth, and all three guys are earning those opportunities, so we’ll continue. We’re going to try to highlight the skill sets of all of those guys. It’s continually evolving. It may be different this week than it was last week, and I’m just being honest with you.”
• For all the focus on Brice McCain and Antwon Blake needing to step up in the secondary, it was Willie Gay who stepped down: He was targeted 10 times for eight catches and 105 yards, the longest of those a 33-yarder by Albert Wilson after a badly missed tackle.
• One of the game’s quirks was seeing Mike Adams line up in essentially a tight end formation. Todd Haley’s love for the three-tight-end formation knows no bounds, so even with Matt Spaeth out to injury, he still dispatched a trio of Miller, Michael Palmer and, yes, Adams. (Marcus Gilbert took all 56 snaps at right tackle.) They ran 11 plays out of that formation, nine of them runs.
• The Steelers will resume with a full practice Tuesday, ensuring they have Christmas off. This will be the third consecutive year Tomlin has made that happen for his coaches and players.
Multimedia: All's well that ends well for Fleury
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December 22, 2014
Steelers PATs: How to shut down Le’Veon 101
by Dejan Kovacevic • Coverage • Steelers
Le’Veon Bell struggles for extra yardage vs. the Kansas City defense Sunday at Heinz Field. — GETTY
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
One last look at the Steelers’ last game …
• Le’Veon Bell almost surely will be named team MVP, and he’s even been mentioned for NFL MVP. But he’s also had single-game performances of 59, 57, 20, 36, 47 and 63 rushing yards, the latter coming in the 20-12 victory Sunday over the Chiefs. Also in the Kansas City game, he had just one catch for 9 yards.
Long story short: If an opponent wants to take Bell out of the game, to date, it has.
Last week, Mike Smith, the Falcons’ coach, stated bluntly afterward, “We saw what he was doing. We weren’t about to let him beat us.”
This time, Tamba Hali, the Chiefs’ excellent linebacker, said, “We wanted to stop the running game because we saw this guy on film and he’s a good runner.”
So it’s no coincidence, no accident. Nor is it, as Mike Tomlin assessed Bell’s numbers the past two weeks in his Monday press conference, “just that time of year where teams are buckling down.” It’s more than that. It’s that opposing defensive coordinators are making up their minds to erase Bell from the equation — most DCs, including Dick LeBeau, love to scratch the run off the list first — then do their best to contain the Steelers’ passing game. They’re lining up eight or nine in the box and, in Kansas City’s case, utilizing only one linebacker — Josh Mauga — in regular pass coverage.
It works, too. Bell needed 20 carries for those 63 yards, averaging 3.2 per carry with a long of 7. His TD was from 1 yard.
I asked the kid if it might be a little frustrating:
Healthy attitude, but this is obviously a healthy concern, as well. The Steelers need a productive Bell — regardless of the scheme they face — to protect the play-action. What’s more, they need to be able to hit Bell with passes, another option Kansas City effectively removed.
The Bengals might be a welcome sight in this regard. The most recent encounter was only three weeks ago, and Bell, of course, bull-rushed that defense for 185 yards on the ground, another 50 through the air. It was breathtaking not only in how Bell and the line dominated but also how Cincinnati never seemed to adjust, even when the same play — Georgia counter, with David DeCastro or Heath Miller pulling to the left — kept clicking again and again and again.
Strikingly, Tomlin on Monday answered a question on whether the Bengals might alter that approach — he dismisses most such questions as being better asked of the other side — by strongly suggesting they won’t: “I think we’re too far down the road for that. I think your personality is your personality in a lot of ways at this juncture of the season. They’re not going to get out of their personality in order to minimize his impact on the game. I’m sure they’re comfortable that they can do that within the personality of what they have employed right now.”
The Steelers should only hope.
• Bell didn’t make much headway with the ball, but he played a big part blocking: When the Chiefs blitzed, Ben Roethlisberger completed 6 of 7 passes for 63 yards. That’s a credit to all concerned, but the running back stands out.
• The Steelers’ highest-graded defensive player Sunday will surprise no one: James Harrison rated a 5.9 per Pro Football Focus, followed by Cam Heyward’s 4.9 for annihilating poor Kansas City guard Jeff Linkenbach all afternoon, then Jason Worilds’ 2.4 after two sacks. Between those three gentlemen, one could count four hits on Alex Smith, nine hurries and six sacks. That’s getting it done on the pass rush.
• It’s worth noting, too, that Mike Mitchell had an atypically high 1.2, fourth-best of any starter. And it certainly didn’t escape his notice that his solid day coincided with a strong pass rush like the one he had in Carolina: “When those guys are pressuring like that up front, I’ve got the easiest job in the world, just trying to take care of the deep ball.”
• Expect Tomlin and LeBeau to continue to work Vince Williams and Sean Spence into the inside linebacker rotation, especially since Ryan Shazier keeps taking lumps. And man, is he ever taking those. In 20 snaps, he recorded as many tackles, two, as he missed. Most painful to observe, on that huge fourth-down stop of Jamaal Charles, as all his teammates were swarming right, Shazier was being shoved violently to the left.
“There are three different linebackers playing alongside Lawrence Timmons inside,” Tomlin said. “All three guys are proving their worth, and all three guys are earning those opportunities, so we’ll continue. We’re going to try to highlight the skill sets of all of those guys. It’s continually evolving. It may be different this week than it was last week, and I’m just being honest with you.”
• For all the focus on Brice McCain and Antwon Blake needing to step up in the secondary, it was Willie Gay who stepped down: He was targeted 10 times for eight catches and 105 yards, the longest of those a 33-yarder by Albert Wilson after a badly missed tackle.
• One of the game’s quirks was seeing Mike Adams line up in essentially a tight end formation. Todd Haley’s love for the three-tight-end formation knows no bounds, so even with Matt Spaeth out to injury, he still dispatched a trio of Miller, Michael Palmer and, yes, Adams. (Marcus Gilbert took all 56 snaps at right tackle.) They ran 11 plays out of that formation, nine of them runs.
• The Steelers will resume with a full practice Tuesday, ensuring they have Christmas off. This will be the third consecutive year Tomlin has made that happen for his coaches and players.