We hit on the performance of Le'Veon Bell in this week's Game Rewind column, noting that Pittsburgh's rookie runner gives the Steelers a long-lost boost in the backfield.
One play we dissected featured Bell taking a direct snap out of the Wildcat, with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger darting out wide to the receiver position. It's not a scheme we typically see from the old-school Steelers, and it's not a play Big Ben is in love with.
"It's not that I don't like it," Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his radio show, per SteelCityInsider.net. "If it helps us win, I'm all for it. I just told coach I get actually physically tired running out to wide receiver all the time."
We're not buying that, or Roethlisberger seeming to welcome the abuse he might take outside the pocket:
"They can (take a shot at me)," he said. "I'm a little bigger than those defensive backs. I wouldn't want them to try it."
Despite Big Ben's reservations, he's on board with a run game that's finally showing signs of life.
The 'Cat, meanwhile, is making a comeback. It's bubbled up in Pittsburgh and we've seen the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets lean on its wily ways as well. With Bell's emergence, Big Ben might be in for more running this Sunday against the Oakland Raiders.
The "Around The League Podcast" spoke with NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell on Wednesday. Click here to listen and subscribe.
