The Pittsburgh Steelers’ players got together for their annual selection of the team’s Most Valuable Player and any of three players were deserving. Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown all made a case for taking home this honor but the members of the team chose Bell as the 2014 MVP.
Many will look at the selection of a team MVP as no big deal and will dismiss it as a whole bunch of nonsense but don’t forget some players actually get such award selections woven into their contracts.
Winners of a team MVP award can often earn an extra $50,000-$100,000 on top of their normal income from the team. I’m not certain if any of the “Three B’s” had such a clause in their respective contracts but it’s obviously a big deal if we report on it to this extent.
Bell’s numbers speak for themselves this season. He’s carried the ball 282 times for 1,341 yards and eight touchdowns. He also has 77 pass receptions for 774 yards and three scores. He averages over ten yards per reception which is pretty impressive for a running back.
Bell’s impact this season has been magnified in recent weeks as teams like the Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs have loaded up in attempts to stop him in the running the game.
To further that point, Bell was used largely as a decoy in the passing game where he caught just one ball on Sunday. The Chiefs rotated any number of linebackers on him but this opened up the middle of the field where Roethlisberger thrived in finding Heath Miller who had six receptions.
I know there are many who will make strong arguments for Big Ben to have won this award and I can’t deny those. In my heart of hearts, I truly believe that if you take either Roethlisberger, Brown or Bell off this team it will do markedly worse with the absence of number seven than the other two.
That by no means is a knock on either Brown or Bell but the quarterback is the engine that runs the machine. Roethlisberger has had a phenomenal year with 30 touchdown passes and almost 5,000 yards. If we take just half of that away then we are left with pretty lame quarterback play.
Can a similar argument be made for Antonio Brown? Sure it can; after all he has more than double the catches of the second leading receiver and his yardage and touchdown totals are out of this world as well.
But…would his numbers be as good were Bruce Gradkowski the quarterback? No offense Bruce but I’m going with a big “N-O” here.
Let’s not dwell on who didn’t win the award though. Bell has been an incredible force for this record-setting offense this season and it’s his unique ability to be good in so many facets of the game that is so impressive.
For every great run or catch he has, his blocking in pass protection has been just as solid and no less important. His effort is unquestioned and his penchant for lowering the boom on the defender rather than the opposite happening is becoming legendary in the Steel City.
Concerns about his number of touches and snaps in general are valid. He’s touched the ball a lot in 2014 and I believe you’ll see the team look for a better than able back-up.
That’s talk for the offseason though because today is about celebrating Le’Veon Bell as the Most Valuable Player of the Pittsburgh Steelers for 2014.
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