For whom the Bell tolls.
Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers voted on the team’s MVP for the 2016 season, and the answer was rather resounding: running back Le’Veon Bell.
Despite missing the first three games of the season with a drug-related suspension, Bell is second in the NFL (first in the AFC) with his 1,268 rushing yards, and he has seven rushing touchdowns.
And he’s done all this in just 12 games.
In the Steelers’ six-game win streak, Bell is averaging over 100 yards a game. (He would have had 100 yards per game in that streak if not for a 93-yard game versus the Cincinnati Bengals.) Bell’s best rushing game of the year came in Week 14 against the Buffalo Bills, where Bell finished with 236 rushing yards (a Pittsburgh single-game record).
Bell also shines as a blocker and, more importantly, as a receiver. He’s second on the team with 75 receptions for 616 yards (8.2 yards/catch) and two touchdowns. That means that he has 1,884 total yards from scrimmage (as a back and a wideout), which is first in the AFC, and his 157 average yards per game from scrimmage are first in the whole NFL.
This season, Bell became the fastest player in league history to have 3,000 rushing yards and 1,500 receiving yards (in just 38 games).
Bell previously won the team award in 2014.
