Rooney: Bell is expected next week

Steelers begin to play difficult part of schedule

Steelers president Art Rooney II told SiriusXM NFL Radio Thursday that he expects Le’Veon Bell to report to the team next week.

Bell, an All-Pro running back, is staying away from the Steelers during a contract dispute, but if he wants to play in the NFL this season he must sign his franchise tender by 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The Steelers and Bell could not come to an agreement on a long-term contract by the NFL’s deadline for franchise-tagged players in July. The Steelers expected Bell to report one week before the regular season began, just as he did one year ago when he played in all 16 games plus the playoff game under the franchise tag.

But Bell never reported and has forfeited $8.5 million in salary through the first 10 weeks of the season. He can collect $855,000 per game for the remainder of the season, although the Steelers could choose to apply a two-week roster exemption on him, during which time they are not required to pay him.

“I don’t know what his plans are, but I would say at this point we expect him to come back next week,” Rooney said on NFL radio Thursday. “We know he’s back in Pittsburgh and so we’re hoping to have some communications with him over the weekend and we’re kind of expecting he will be back next week.”

Second-half gauntlet

Thursday night marked the start of the second half of the season for the Steelers, who have performed exceptionally well under coach Mike Tomlin in second halves since he became head coach in 2007. The Steelers are 60-28 in second halves over the past 11 seasons. Only New England (72-17) has a better record.

Tomlin will be hardpressed to maintain that winning percentage in this year’s second half. The Steelers face the most difficult part of their schedule in November and December. Carolina was the first of five games against teams that are in playoff position.

Carolina (6-3) is 1½ games behind NFC South Division leader New Orleans, where the Steelers will play Dec. 23. The Steelers also play New England (first place in AFC East), Los Angeles Chargers (second place in AFC West) and Cincinnati (second place in AFC North).

The other three games against teams currently out of the playoff picture are all on the road — Jacksonville, Denver and Oakland. The Steelers are 0-3 in their past three trips to Oakland and Denver and 3-6 all time in Jacksonville.

Roethlisberger perfect

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger registered a perfect passer rating for the game. He was 22 of 25 for 328 yards, threw five touchdown passes and 0 interceptions.

Roethlisberger threw three touchdowns in the third quarter and moved into seventh place on the alltime list for touchdown passes with 350, moving ahead of Eli Manning.

This and that

James Conner is the eighth player in franchise history to score 10 rushing touchdowns in a season and the first since DeAngelo Williams in 2015. Conner accomplished the feat in nine games. He has at least one touchdown in the past five games. … Vince Williams’ 17-yard interception return for a touchdown was the second interception of his career. … The Steelers scored 21 points in the first quarter, the first time the Steelers scored 20 or more since a 2016 game in Kansas City, when they scored 22. … Chris Boswell booted a 50-yard field goal in the second quarter and improved to 7 of 9 on attempts of 50 yards or longer in his career. … Antonio Brown has scored a touchdown in seven consecutive games. It’s the second-longest touchdown streak in team history. Buddy Dial scored touchdowns in 11 consecutive games in 1960. … Outside linebacker T.J. Watt recorded the eighth sack of the season, establishing a career high.

Roster news

The Steelers went with a familiar lineup Thursday night. The only change from Sunday, when the Steelers won in Baltimore, was the insertion of defensive tackle L.T. Walton for injured reserve Daniel McCullers. The other 45 players on the gameday roster remained the same.

Matt Feiler started a third consecutive game at right tackle for Marcus Gilbert, who continues to deal with a knee injury. The Steelers were 3-0 with Feiler in the lineup.