James Conner was pretty good in holdout Le’Veon Bell’s stead Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, putting up nearly 200 total yards and two touchdowns.
Conner also lost a fumble for the Pittsburgh Steelers in a game that eventually ended in a 21-21 tie.
With Bell still holding out heading into the team’s Week 2 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, this one graphic tells us a story of a fan base in Pittsburgh that should be a bit concerned.
This is pretty telling. (h/t DatchPenguin on Reddit). pic.twitter.com/PBud0PnKQ9
— Sportsnaut (@Sportsnaut) September 12, 2018
Since Bell entered the league back in 2013, Pittsburgh boasts a 42-19 record with him on the field (.689 winning percentage). It’s just 11-8-1 with him sidelined. That’s good enough for a .550 winning percentage.
Sure the rushing totals and points per game are nearly the same here, but Bell’s importance to the Steelers goes much further than that.
In fact, they fumble three times more when he’s sidelined. Pittsburgh lost three fumbles in its surprising tie against the Browns last week.
Bell wants starting quarterback type money. Pittsburgh is unwilling to give him that. The split between how Bell views himself and the Steelers value him is real. This graphic magnifies that to a T.