Le’Veon Bell Says If He Was Healthy, The Steelers Would Have Beaten The Patriots

The New England Patriots are the American football champions of the world…again. Clearly they were superior to the Atlanta Falcons, who had the Super Bowl all but won in the third quarter but, somehow, blew it. I don’t think anyone is debating that at this point.

But do we definitely know the Patriots were better than the second-best team in the AFC?

Judging by the score of the AFC Championship—36-17, New England—the answer on the surface is Yes. But as football fans know, the Steelers weren’t at their best on that day.

They were missing perhaps the NFL’s best weapon, Le’Veon Bell, who was sidelined for most of the game with a groin injury. (He did play, but rushed only six times for 20 yards.)

Would the outcome have been different if Bell was at full strength? He thinks so.

“I think we beat them,” Bell told ESPN during an appearance on First Take. “When I was out there, I wasn’t feeling well at all. The fact I was out there [early in the game], their game plan was so different just because of the fact I was out there. If I go out there healthy and we go out there and do what we do, the way we’ve been doing it the whole season, especially in the playoffs, running the ball, running play-action, leaving [Antonio Brown] one-on-one…I think the outcome would have been different. We’ll get back to that next year.”

The game would have been closer, but would Bell’s presence really have been enough? Pittsburgh’s defense couldn’t stop Tom Brady and company—New England’s offense racked up 431 yards.

For what it’s worth, the teams played once during the regular season, in Week 7. New England won, 27-16. Bell rushed for 81 yards.