Steelers are grateful for whom the Bell toils
Le’Veon Bell spent the past two Januarys watching helplessly while the Pittsburgh Steelers tried to make deep postseason runs without him.
On Sunday, the slippery running back made up for lost time against the Miami Dolphins — and the Steelers couldn’t be happier.
Bell, Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown played together in the playoffs for the first time to lead Pittsburgh to a 30-12 victory.
Pounding away relentlessly at a defense that hardly seemed interested in stopping him at frigid Heinz Field, Bell ran for a franchise playoff record 167 yards and two touchdowns as the Steelers overwhelmed the beaten-up and mistake-prone Dolphins.
“We wanted to go out there and make a statement ... and that’s what we did,” Bell said.
Bell, Brown and Roethlisberger, who wore a walking boot on his right foot afterward, more than wiped away the bitter taste from a 30-15 whipping at the hands of the Dolphins in mid-October.
Given a shot at redemption, Pittsburgh didn’t let it go to waste. The Steelers (12-5) led by two touchdowns before the game was 10 minutes old on long touchdown strikes from Roethlisberger to Brown. Miami never got closer than 11.
“Le’Veon was beastly,” said Brown, who finished with five receptions for 124 yards.
“All day, controlling the line of scrimmage, just running guys over and finding a way to put the ball in the end zone. Any time he’s playing like that, we’re going to be a hard team to beat.”
Certainly, at least, for teams like Miami (10-7). Given a chance to prove their first playoff berth in eight years wasn’t a fluke despite being outgained and outscored during the regular season, the Dolphins never found a rhythm.
The problem wasn’t the single digit wind chill or a vicious hit absorbed by quarterback Matt Moore in the second quarter as much as it was the Steelers.
Pittsburgh sacked Moore five times, forced turnovers on three consecutive possessions in the middle of the game and never really let the Dolphins off the deck.
“It’s hard to win when you turn the ball over,” said Moore, who completed 29 of 36 passes for 289 yards with a touchdown and an interception. “In the playoffs, you can’t make mistakes, and that’s on me.”
Pittsburgh (12-5) ran off its eighth straight victory to set up a visit to AFC West champion Kansas City (12-4) next week. The Steelers crushed the Chiefs 43-14 on Oct 2.
“We have to understand the same passion and dedication that we put in this week to beat Miami, that’s how Kansas City is going to try to beat us,” Bell said.
At least Bell will be around for the challenge.
He missed the playoffs each of the past two seasons with knee injuries. All he did in his postseason debut was break Hall of Famer Franco Harris’ team mark of 158 yards rushing in a playoff game, set 42 years ago. Bell reached that total by the end of the third quarter.
The Dolphins revved themselves up by running around in shirt sleeves during the warm-ups. Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier did them one better, racing around shirtless — as if to send a message that his team was plenty comfortable playing in the cold.
The Steelers scored on their first three possessions, and Miami’s playoff victory drought was well on its way to 17 years and counting.
Roethlisberger completed his first 10 passes and finished 13 of 18 for 189 yards with two scores and two interceptions.
He tweaked his ankle while throwing an interception on Pittsburgh’s last drive, but sprinted off the field afterward and said he will be ready to go against the Chiefs.