Le'Veon Bell Stars Against Old Team, Admits Win Over the Steelers 'A Little Extra Topping On It'
On Saturday, Le’Veon Bell posted a hype video that left no doubt that the New York Jets running back was amped for Week 16. The former Pittsburgh Steelers star left the team that drafted him under less than friendly circumstances and he was ready to play his old team Sunday.
And not only did Bell show up on social media this weekend, he also made an impact on the field in the Jets 16-10 win over the Steelers. With the win, the Jets improve to 6-9 on the year and have won five of their last seven games. The loss hurts the Steelers playoff hopes with consecutive losses seeing them drop to 8-7.
It was a special moment, a candid Bell told reporters in the locker room following the Jets victory.
“The win felt great. Obviously every win feels great but this one had a little extra topping on it," Bells said. "But playing against those guys, it was fun going against my old teammates, guys who never could hit me in practice, we had an opportunity to really go at it today, so it was fun.
“I respect all of those guys over there, they play hard, it was tough, obviously [Steelers head] coach [Mike] Tomlin's game plan, it was great. Credit to those guys, I'm glad we came out on top.”
While Bell’s 2.9 yards per carry was tied for his second-lowest output of the season, he still had a productive day. On 25 carries, Bell had 72 yards rushing while adding 21 receiving yards. His numbers took a serious hit in the third quarter when a busted play resulted in an 11-yard loss on a handoff sweep.
Bell showed up and was consistent, even if the numbers against his old team weren’t huge.
All told, he had 29 touches, a high number for Bell, who signed a four-year contract with the Jets this offseason after sitting out t he 2018 when he refused to sign the Steelers franchise tag offer sheet. In what has been a frustrating year in terms of production for Bell, he came into Week 16 averaging fewer than 19 touches per game. The increased workload was noticeable in the Jets win.
So too was the love from both Jets fans as well as the thousands of Steelers fans at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Both sets of fans, representing his current and former team, showered him with cheers.
“The fans showed love today. They didn't boo me or anything. They showed a lot of love when I went out there. It was green and white cheering for me. It was yellow and black cheering for me, too,” Bell said. “I was smiling when I saw all of the '26' jerseys whether it was the Jets or Steelers. Before, during and after the game, they were all showing love. So it was fun. It was fun playing here and hearing everything. They were loud, especially when we were on offense. But it feels good to get out of the stadium with a win.”
