With Le'Veon Bell banged up, DeAngelo Williams proves his value yet again

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a tremendous edge. They can lose perhaps the best running back in the NFL and not miss him much.

The theme of the past couple seasons in Pittsburgh has been that Le’Veon Bell is the focal point of the offense, and DeAngelo Williams has played tremendously whenever he has been called upon. That happened again in the AFC championship game on Sunday.

In the first quarter against the New England Patriots, Le’Veon Bell went off with a groin injury. He was seen on the sideline looking frustrated as the team’s medical personnel examined him. But the Steelers, who didn’t have much going on offensively before Bell got hurt, got a spark from their 33-year-old backup.

Williams came in and played very well on a much-needed touchdown drive. He had four carries for 25 yards, two catches for 9 yards and got in the end zone on third-and-1 for a 5-yard touchdown. That cut the New England Patriots’ lead to 10-6.

Bell came back for the Steelers’ next series, but gingerly ran off the field after one play and according to CBS’ Tracy Wolfson he took his helmet off right away.

Williams has had a great second chapter to his career in Pittsburgh. Bell is one of the NFL’s most talented backs, so Williams didn’t have to be the starter in his early 30s. He was the starter many years with the Carolina Panthers, and had more than 6,800 rushing yards with them. But he got to play a lot last season when Bell got hurt, and had 907 yards and 11 touchdowns.

And when Bell got hurt on Sunday, he came on and produced again. The Steelers would rather give their All-Pro back as many carries as he can handle, but it’s nice for them to know they don’t miss too much whenever Bell is out.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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