Week 1 slowly disappears into the rearview mirror, the obligatory Week 1 overreactions remain: Do the Pittsburgh Steelers even need Le’Veon Bell? Is the Saints-Defense back in the well-known problem status? Chiefs winning division again? And is the hype about Jimmy Garoppolo finally over? Discussion on SPOX!
Daniel Hofmann (brownsfans.de): The 135 rushing and 57 receiving yards of Bell representative James Conner were one of the big surprises in Week 1, especially since the Steelers played with the Browns against a pass defense that was quite convincing last season. Therefore, the absence of Le’Veon Bell may be compensated for now. However, Bell would give the Steelers’ run offense additional options and make the Steelers’ offensive play even more unpredictable. Imagine Plays, in which Conner, Bell and Brown stand together on the field. If Bell was willing to share more snaps with Conner. In addition, the question remains whether Conner can maintain this level in the next games. If the Steelers didn’t fall back on Bell, we would have one of the stories of the whole season!
Marko Markovic (Two Point Conversation): No Le’Veon Bell is at most a problem for Le’Veon Bell. His agent not only persuades him to forego a salary of $835,000 per game, but also to show the team how replaceable running backs are in the NFL at the moment. Of course, James Conner is not a new star or something like that, but a solid backup that can run behind a solid line. As many before him (like DeAngelo Williams) did and as many after him (Jaylen Samuels) will do. For Pittsburgh, the problem is rather: Undisciplined play. Not many teams give you half a victory with a -5 turnover margin, like the Browns do. Getting the out-of-round rhythm, avoidable penalties and turnovers under control will be much more important for their playoff ambitions than Bell’s presence. And the weather is not going to improve either.
mySPOX user Butfumlbe93 (Stats): As lurid as the thesis may sound, I largely agree with it. Of course, you shouldn’t attach too much importance to one game and James Conners Fumble hurt. But the 23-year-old has proven that he can serve as a workhorse for a complete game. 36 touches is really a lot – for comparison: Bell achieves just under 25 per game in his five years. Connor was really productive, with clearly above-average efficiency values according to ANY+/RR and DVOA. In addition, I believe Bell’s value is massively overestimated in the major media. Yes, he’s a good running back, both in running and passing. But he does not have the sole supremacy, as is so often suggested. Coupled with the basically low value of his position in today’s NFL and the fact that the Steelers are still in control of the contract poker business, the principle is this: Bell would certainly be an upgrade for this offense, but not at the price he demands. Pittsburgh has all the options without him, be it on the court or at the negotiating table.
Adrian Franke (SPOX): I can actually go along to a large extent. Conner looked very good as a runner, and as Marko has already said: “Pittsburgh’s offensive line has not shown for the first time that different backs can look good behind her. For long-term success in run games, the line is statistically more important in most cases anyway than the running back itself. Bell’s greatest value to me is the matchup weapon. In other words: Because he can be deployed anywhere in the formation without any problems and the defense has to respect this, he offers Pittsburgh advantages with the pre-snap-reads on the one hand, on the other hand the Steelers can also force advantageous matchups in passing. On the other hand, as a receiver it is above all a volume weapon and not the individual difference player, which is, for example, a David Johnson, who is used much more versatile and deeper in terms of routes. If the Steelers Conner use the same technique as they did against Cleveland in a passing game, the gap to Bell becomes even smaller. For me, Bell’s negotiating position has been significantly weakened with this first game, and there are enough arguments for: No Bell, no problem.
Thesis 1: No Le’Veon Bell? No problem for Pittsburgh
Thesis 2: New Orleans has the well-known, holey Saints-Defense again.
Proposition 3: The Garoppolo hype is over – the Niners are an 8-8 team
Thesis 4: In the end the Chiefs win the AFC West again
Thesis 5: The First Overall Pick in Draft 2019 only goes over the Bills