Chicago Bears vs. Pittsburgh Steelers: Five players to watch

4. Le’Veon Bell

Chicago Bears defense, meet Pro Bowl Le’Veon Bell, arguably the best dual-threat running back in the NFL.

Le’Veon Bell, meet the Bears defense, who currently sit at 10^th in the league in yards per carry allowed (3.2).

This should be fun.

As it turns out, Bell hasn’t had much of an impact on the Steelers’ first two games this season. He posted just 32 yards on 10 carries in their opener in Cleveland while rushing for 87 yards on 22 carries last Sunday against Minnesota.

With two of their best inside linebackers injured, the Chicago Bears might pose less of a challenge Sunday than they might have two weeks ago when they stifled Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.

Akiem Hicks and Eddie Goldman will still anchor the defense front, but the loss of Jerrell Freeman really hurts here. While Nick Kwiatkoski would have served adequately against the run, he certainly couldn’t have covered Bell out of the backfield as well as Freeman. With holes in that part of the Bears’ defense, look for the Steelers to use Bell as a receiver frequently.

And with his excessively patient style, expect the reserve linebackers to end up out of place on their fits occasionally.

Playing Bell stresses out every defense without fail. Trying to limit him with a defense at less than 100%? That’s going to be tough. Let’s see if the Chicago Bears are up to the challenge.