Le’Veon Bell didn’t have his usual success in the first three games of the 2017 season, but facing a familiar rival brought out his best game of the young season.
Bell was the featured player in the Steelers offense as he ran the ball 35 times, caught four passes and scored two touchdowns in a 26-9 victory over the Ravens. Bell accounted for 186 yards and the Steelers posted their season high with 382 yards of offense to make for a fairly easy victory.
It looked for a time like the Ravens might be able to rally as they got an interception deep in Steelers territory when officials reversed their initial ruling that Antonio Brown was down with a completion before the ball came out and landed in safety Eric Weddle’s hands. Their offense couldn’t move the ball, though, and they settled for a field goal.
A 50-yard run by Alex Collins set up the only touchdown of the day for the Ravens a bit later in the third quarter, but the Ravens couldn’t convert a two-point conversion and the fourth quarter saw Joe Flacco throw a pair of interceptions that eliminated any chance of a comeback victory.
Flacco, who was 31-of-49 overall, was sacked four times and the Ravens had 32 rushing yards outside of Collins’ big play, so the offense didn’t make any noticeable improvement over last week’s debacle against the Jaguars. That will make it harder for Flacco to argue that concern about the unit is premature and a failure to fix the problems will make it harder for the Ravens to keep pace with the 3-1 Steelers over the rest of the season.