Good morning,

On our way home, some stuff, first:

--- While it left them virtually without a backup, maybe the best thing to happen to the Steelers was LeGarrette Blount quitting them in Tennessee. Now, they can just give the ball to Le’Veon Bell all the time. He ran his number, 26 times and gained 185 yards, which is 7.1 yards per carry. He now averages 5.1 yards per carry, has 1,231 yards in 13 games with three to go. He probably will not topple Barry Foster’s team record of 1,690 yards rushing but he is the most well-rounded back they have had since Franco Harris.

--- Bell’s 71 pass receptions are 20 more than the team record set by John L. Williams a generation ago. And he . . . still . . . has . . . three . . . more . . . games.

--- Best line came from Charlie Batch on the KDKA-TV pregame show at 11:30 a.m. when Bob Pompeani asked him if he were surprised that rookie Dri Archer was inactive for the first time in a game. Batch said he thought Archer was not active all season.

--- If there are football gods, the AFC North Division should come down to Bengals at Steelers on Dec. 28. Cleveland will play at Baltimore that day.

--- Sure, you knew the Carolina Panthers would go to New Orleans and rough up the Saints, a team that drubbed the Steelers the previous week in Pittsburgh. Right?

--- Even though they have scored more points in two games this season, the Steelers had their largest margin of victory in Cincinnati, by 21.

--- What took Mike Tomlin so long to make Dri Archer inactive?

--- It is a shame that cornerback William Gay had that interception taken away from him by a teammate’s penalty because it would have been his third, tying him with tight end Matt Spaeth and wide receiver Darius Heyward-Bey for number of catches this season.

--- Cam Heyward took over the team lead in sacks with five. Linebacker Arthur Moats picked up two on Sunday to give him four, which puts him half-a-sack and nearly $9 million in salary behind Jason Worilds.

--- They listed rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier as having played, although I did not see him. Maybe he sneaked into one of the special teams plays. Jarvis Jones did play a little on defense but with no effect. Not that anyone should have expected those two to do much in their first games back.

--- Heath Miller caught a two-point conversion pass Sunday, the team’s fourth this season. That’s their most since they had five two-pointers in 2002, their team record.

--- The surprise wasn’t that Martavis Bryant caught a 94-yard touchdown pass Sunday, but that he had been so little used in the past few games.

--- The difference between the Bengals and Steelers is quarterback. If the Bengals had Ben Roethlisberger, they may be unbeaten.

--- And if Andy Dalton is worth $115 million over six years, what will Roethlisberger expect when the Steelers sign him to a contract extension next year?

--- After ending that W-L alternate system through the first seven games by winning three straight, the Steelers are back on it. Over the past five games, they have goen W-L-W-L-W. They play at Atlanta next and they are 1-2 against the woebegone NFC South.

--- --- The way this season has gone for the Steelers, would anyone be surprised if they follow up their big win in Cincinnati by losing at Atlanta Sunday?

--- Many of the Cincinnati media was picking a Steelers win, and those in the Pittsburgh media were picking a Bengals win. Maybe we’ve both seen too much of these respective Jekyll-Hyde teams play up or down each week.

--- Had the Steelers beaten just Tampa Bay at home, they would be in first place in the AFC North Division and at 9-4 still be in the hunt for a playoff seed. Again, though, it is testing a theory that you cannot lose to both the Bucs and Jets and still make the playoffs.

--- Tomlin has gone another season without a losing record, which makes eight. If they go 11-5 and win the division, might people stop calling for him to be fired? It won’t matter if they go 8-8, it would not happen anyway. Their last losing season was 2003. 

--- Although it has under-performed at times, the Steelers’ offense has done its job for most of the season, hitting 30 points or more seven times, more than 40 three times. It should not just earn Todd Haley a new contract, but a raise.

--- Time to hit the road. Chat tomorrow at 1:30. Send your questions for Ask Ed to ebouchette@post-gazette.com

First Published: April 6, 2016, 4:10 p.m.