Once again, one of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Killer Bs find themelves on the verge of history this season. On this particular occasion, it is running back Le’Veon Bell who is on the doorstep of achieving a landmark faster than any player in NFL history has ever done before him.
The two-time All-Pro needs just 101 yards in today’s game to reach 8000 yards from scrimmage for his career. Should he manage to do so, he will become the fastest player to reach that mark in terms of the number of games played, and will break a record that is currently owned by Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson.
If you have been following along all season, you have probably seen the former Rams running back’s name come up a lot when the subject of Bell and records has been broached. Dickerson has held many of the milestones in terms of putting up yardage early in his career that Bell is surpassing, which goes to show how rare a talent he is.
The game against the Texans in Houston will be the 62nd in Bell’s career during the regular season. In his first 61 games, he has recorded 5267 rushing yards and 2632 receiving yards, giving him a total of 7899. As mentioned earlier in this piece, a 101-yard day through the ground and the air would see him reach 8000.
Dickerson hit 8000 yards from scrimmage in his 64th game, so even if Bell fails to amass 101 yards against the Texans, he would still be able to break the Hall of Famer’s mark in the final game of the regular season.
Behind Dickerson are LaDainian Tomlinson and Edgerrin James, who reached 8000 yards in their 65th game. Jim Brown reached the mark in his 67th game, while Marcus Allen did it in 68 games. This information comes courtesy of the NFL Research Twitter account.
On the season, Bell leads the league in rushing yards and yards from scrimmage, though much of that has to do with the fact that he has also received the most touches in the NFL. He has 1222 rushing yards on 307 carries, adding another 627 yards through the air on 80 receptions. His carries are already a career-high, while he is three receptions away from his career high in receptions.
For his career, Bell is averaging 129.5 yards from scrimmage per game. But he has also missed a lot of games. His 61 games played is out of a possible 78, meaning he has missed 17 games in his first five seasons, which is roughly 22 percent of the total number of games he could have played.
While he missed five games due to suspension, he also missed the first three games of his career with a foot injury. In year three, he tore up his knee, which cost him eight games. He sat out the season finale last year because the Steelers were locked into their playoff position. But at his average, had he played every game for which he were eligible, he would have 10,100 yards from scrimmage right now.
For the record, Ezekiel Elliott is currently averaging 129.9 yards per game, but in just 23 games played.
