Le'Veon Bell believes the Pittsburgh Steelers should've run the ball more Sunday versus the Jacksonville Jaguars, owners of one of the league's worst run-stopping defenses.
"I don't think we had enough attempts," Bell said Monday, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Bell and James Conner combined for only 18 rush attempts for the Steelers. Meanwhile, the Jags leaned heavily on Leonard Fournette, giving the rookie 28 carries, and Chris Ivory, whom they fed eight times. Fournette pounded the Steelers for 181 yards and two touchdowns, while Ivory added 41 yards.
"I think that's just the formula for winning," Bell said. "The Jaguars, they ran the ball a lot of times. You see over the course of the game, it's wearing down the defense. Running the ball shortens the game and opens up the offense, it makes passing the ball easier, it gets you in third and manageable downs. I think just over the course of the season you'll see the teams that run the ball heavy win games."
With Bell's role limited, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger attempted a whopping 55 passes. None of them resulted in touchdowns, while five of them were caught by the other team.
Bell received 15 carries for 47 yards in the 30-9 loss, and said it would've been a matter of time before the Steelers cracked Jacksonville's defense had they committed more to the ground game.
"I felt there was room in there. The stats don’t really show what really happened because of the fact there were several runs where we lost yards, but I feel like we were running the ball effectively," he said.
The 25-year-old has reached the century mark in rushing just once this season after doing so six times last year. He said he didn't voice his concerns with the coaching staff during the Jaguars game, and instead obided by the gameplan.
"It doesn't really matter what I think. I just go out there and play," he said. "I don't get frustrated anymore. I just go out there and play. When my number's called, I'll be ready. When it's not, I'll go out and do what they ask me to do."
