The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without the services of injured running back Le’Veon Bell (knee) Saturday night for their Wild Card Game against the Baltimore Ravens as he was ruled out on the final injury report of the week Friday with a right knee injury suffered last Sunday night in the win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Bell, who suffered a hyperextended right knee on a hit by Bengals safety Reggie Nelson in the third quarter of Sunday night’s game, was unable to practice all week as a result of his injury.
With Bell now ruled out for Saturday night, the Steelers will rely on rookies Josh Harris and Dri Archer in the running game against the Ravens. In addition to them, newly-signed running back Ben Tate could see some playing time Saturday night as well.
Harris, an undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest, was promoted to the Steelers 53 man roster from the practice squad several weeks ago when the team decided to part ways with disgruntled running back LeGarrette Blount. In limited playing time with the Steelers since being promoted, Harris has rushed for 16 yards on nine carries.
Archer, the Steelers third-round draft pick out of Kent State, has rushed for 40 yards on his 10 carries this season. He’s also chipped in seven catches for 23 yards in his limited playing time this season.
As for Tate, he was signed to the roster Tuesday as insurance in case Bell couldn’t play this week. The former second-round draft pick of the Houston Texans combined to rush for 371 yards and four touchdowns on 119 carries with the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings this season.
Since Bell reportedly didn’t suffer any ligament damage to his right knee, the Steelers will hope that he can play next week if they manage to get by the Ravens Saturday night.
