Bewerbungen » The Pittsburgh Steelers don't exactly look like they need him

Le'Veon Bell might be ready to head back to work. .The star running back tweeted "Farewell Miami" on Monday Youth Samson Ebukam Jersey , possibly indicating the end of his months-long standoff with the club. Bell hasn't been inside the Pittsburgh locker room since last January, opting to stay away rather than sign his one-year franchise tender. The two-time All-Pro has sacrificed half of the $14.4 million he's due this season but needs to report by Nov. 13 to make sure he accrues enough service time to reach free agency in March.Bell's extended absence initially created a furor inside the locker room. Now, it seems almost like an afterthought. The Steelers (5-2-1) have ripped off four straight victories heading into Thursday night's visit from Carolina (6-2), relying heavily on James Conner — Bell's replacement — to surge into the lead in the AFC North.Conner topped 100 yards rushing for a fourth straight week during a 23-16 victory over Baltimore on Sunday, and caught his first career touchdown pass when he took a short flip from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and bulled past Baltimore safety Eric Weddle at the pylon."He's showing that no challenge is too big for him, against the No. 1 defense or whoever it might be," Steelers left tackle Alejandro Villanueva said of Conner. "You know when you're so close to him, and he lowers his shoulder, and you see him get a couple yards, it's extremely motivating."Conner is second in the league in all-purpose yards and touches behind Los Angeles Rams standout Todd Gurley and tied for fourth in total touchdowns. The second-year back hardly seems bothered by the heavy workload, saying he's built for it. So does his coach."I agree with James," Mike Tomlin said Monday when asked about Conner's personal assessment.Tomlin smiled as he answered, mirroring the considerably lighter mood around his team these days. The problems that plagued the Steelers during September have vanished Youth Cooper Kupp Jersey , though Tomlin is reticent to point to any one area where his team has improved."I'm not trying to look for specific areas, I just try to challenge these guys to get better every day," Tomlin said. "That's what we're focused on. I think that if we do that daily that will give us a chance to produce consistent performances that are on the rise. Not only in the second quarter (of the season) but as we continue through this journey."It's a pattern that's become well established during Tomlin's 12 years on the job. The Steelers have been traditionally slow starters under his watch, then get it together as the days grow shorter.Pittsburgh hasn't allowed more than 21 points during its four-game run and the secondary that was torched regularly in the opening month has settled in. Coty Sensabaugh has taken over for Artie Burns at the cornerback spot opposite Joe Haden and rookie safety Terrell Edmunds has filled in capably while veteran Morgan Burnett heals from a series of injuries that have slowed him since training camp.The Steelers aren't exactly overwhelming opponents but considering the firepower on offense, overwhelming teams isn't required. Pittsburgh gave up at least 327 yards in each of its first four games. The Steelers haven't surrendered more than 324 yards over their last four."Our defense is working in the right direction," safety Sean Davis said. "We held the Ravens to 16 points ... and I feel like we're putting together winning performances. As long as the defense continues to do that, and with our offense playing the way they're playing, we're just going to continue riding the roller coaster. Our trajectory is high."Considerably higher than it appeared while getting repeatedly torched during the opening month. Yet the job is still only halfway done. The schedule remains daunting. If Bell — whenever he shows up — can return to at least some semblance of the form that made him an All-Pro last season, Pittsburgh could be a tough out. If he can't, they like their chances anyway."It's still going to be a long ride," linebacker Bud Dupree said. "It was great that we got the win to get on top of the division again. We've got another game against the Bengals. We just need to be sure to dominate everywhere." NEW YORK (AP) — ESPN’s equipment trucks already were headed for Mexico when the network found out next Monday night’s mega-matchup between the Chiefs and Rams was being switched to Los Angeles.And the scramble was on.Those trucks had been dispatched from Santa Clara, California, and were making their way through Arizona — ESPN already had a catering truck on site in Mexico City — when the NFL White Robert Woods Jersey , citing the poor condition of the field at Azteca Stadium, switched the game to the LA Coliseum. So, under the most unusual of circumstances, “Monday Night Football” returns to Los Angeles for the first time in 33 years.“We are disappointed that we are not going to be in Mexico City,” Jay Rothman, the “Monday Night Football” producer, said Wednesday. “We were really excited about the game when the schedule came out, we had it two years ago, we wanted it last year with New England and didn’t get it, and this year we got it back.“We understand the circumstance and just had to adjust. As difficult as the logistics are for both teams … the same holds true for our crew. We had 150 people mobilizing.“Our fleet of trucks left Santa Clara and were to be at the Mexican border this morning. It turned into a scramble mode for much of our team.“Now, ‘Monday Night Football’ returns to LA for the first time since 1985, and we are excited about that.”ESPN was not consulted by the league about changing the locale of the game, but was notified by the NFL that it was a possibility. While that doesn’t lessen the work involved for a network expecting to televise a game from one time zone and then discovering the site will be two times zones away — in another country — it did help ESPN’s planning.“We were not part of the decision other than they did — which we really appreciated — they gave us some notice of the potential issues some days ago Youth Rob Havenstein Jersey ,” said Burke Magnus, ESPN’s executive vice president of programming and scheduling. “The logistics change here is not insignificant, but we appreciate that the NFL made us aware of the possibility several days ago.”Asked if pushing the game back a week — both teams have byes following the Monday nighter — was broached, Magnus said the network was not “made aware of anything other than a venue switch.”Rothman noted that having Southern Cal playing its annual rivalry game with UCLA at the Rose Bowl this year makes the switch a bit easier.“We are a traveling circus, with six mobile units, so certainly it helps that USC is in the Rose Bowl on Saturday and not at home,” Rothman said. “It helps us in terms of setup.”These have been strange days for ESPN, he added.“It’s crazy that the last two games, what we had in San Francisco with the air quality in the Bay Area, and any talk of moving that game,” Rothman said.“Needing to get our trucks to Mexico. That was a stressful week there, not knowing how the air quality would be. A lot that’s been going on over the last week.”