The Pittsburgh Steelers are heading into Week 2 in a very tough situation, as the team has a number of massive injuries to deal with and after losing running back Le'Veon Bell, the matchup against the Bengals on Monday night football is a must-win for Mike Tomlin.
The team lost Larry Foote as well as Maurkice Pouncey to surgery and now the Pro Bowl center will be out for the season after tearing his ACL and MCL. Bell has been out since the preseason after dealing with a foot injury and now reports have come out from ESPN.com that he should be back in a few weeks, most likely after the team has a bye week following their game against the Vikings in Week 4. A return by that date would make the debut for Bell on the road against the Jets in Week 6.
The Steelers wanted to focus more on the running game this year after losing their way last season and they drafted Bell to take over as the starting back after he was prolific in college. The team traded for Felix Jones to add depth with Isaac Redman and the team also lost LaRod Stephens-Howling to a knee injury. The team re-signed Jonathan Dwyer to come back after cutting him in the preseason and now he returns a year after being the leading rusher for the Steelers.
The team lost to the Titans on Sunday and looked bad on offense and Howling led the team with 19 yards rushing, while Redman had eight carries for nine years and wideout Antonio Brown was next on the team with four yards. That's it. Clearly the team needs Bell back and after losing Pouncey, the offensive line could be in shambles. Bell originally injured his foot in August and while the team was afraid he would need surgery, luckily he avoided that and is now on his way to being back to full health.
Fantasy owners that have Bell are hoping he can come back strong and Dwyer is a solid option until he comes back after the way Redman played. Tomlin still will try to run the ball and playing a tough team like the Bengals on Monday night will be a tough test either way and both teams want the win, as they each lost on Sunday, with the Bengals falling to the Bears.
