Steelers’ fill-ins figure to stay involved going forward

Mike Tomlin remembers those trips to St. Louis back in the days when he was a secondary coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bell is going to be inserted into the starting lineup right away and will get his 20-plus touches, but having Williams in the fold could allow Bell to flank out wide more and save his body some. “Help is on the way”, Williams said.

The Steelers have two very good running backs. But crowd noise, coupled with the way an artificial playing surface complements speed, are going to be issues the Steelers will have to deal with successfully if they hope to win a second straight game after a season opening loss in New England to the Patriots. His 2,215 total yards also were a team record and led the AFC. He rarely came off the field last season, which is one reason his veteran backup, LeGarrette Blount, walked out on the team in Nashville, Tenn., last season and was cut the next day.

Brown finished with nine receptions for 195 yards and a seven-yard score with 7:43 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Former Maryland University star and 2009 No. 7 overall pick Darrius Heyward-Bey shined bright this week and is becoming a valuable option for Roethlisberger.

A combination of process and emotion decide what the Pittsburgh Steelers attempt in the moments following a touchdown. The Steelers made their first with a quick out pass to Antonio Brown in the left side of the end zone. “I’m just glad to be back on the field”. He was eventually released by the Steelers in the middle of November following a mid-game tantrum related to his small workload. Austin has 57 yards on eight carries in two games and a touchdown. Williams is a solid backup and Roethlisberger comes in with strong numbers as well, as he had 369 passing yards and three TDs in the win against San Francisco. “Le’Veon doesn’t like to come out of the game”, Roethlisberger said. This defense was able to stick with the Seahawks, but against a Steelers offense that is performing in the top five in the league, they have a lot of questions to answer.

It put pressure on Colin Kaepernick all afternoon, including 1.5 sacks from second-year defensive end Stephon Tuitt.

“Honestly, I feel like Le’Veon’s the best running back in the National Football League”, said linebacker Ryan Shazier, who led the team with 15 tackles and a sack against the 49ers. He continues to improve every game and looks like he can become a future Pro Bowl player, possibly this season. The Rams have an extremely stout defense, powered by a pass-rush in Aaron Donald and company that’s built to wreak havoc on opposing offenses.

Tomlin tried to talk up the “hostile environment” in St. Louis’s Edward Jones Dome, working on silent counts this week in practice, but the fact is that the Rams drew just 45,000 at the 66,000-seat stadium for their home opener against two-time defending NFC champion Seattle in Week 1.