The Pittsburgh Steelers kick off the regular season tonight against the defending champion New England Patriots, and they will be doing so without their All-Pro running back, Le’Veon Bell, who is serving a two-game suspension.
How his replacements perform could have a tremendous impact on how this game goes. The Steelers signed DeAngelo Williams in the offseason for this purpose, but this will be the most extensive work that he has seen in some time.
The offense will want to try to control the clock as much as possible to keep the Patriots’ offense off the field and minimize their number of scoring opportunities.