Pittsburgh Steelers Le'Veon Bell Out For NFL Playoff Wildcard Game Against Baltimore Ravens: Running Back Knee Injury

Le'Veon Bell will miss the Pittsburgh Steelers 2015 NFL playoff wildcard game against their hated AFC North rivals the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers will turn to a pair of rookies in Josh Harris and Dri Archer, as well as veteran discard Ben Tate to help quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the NFL's leading wide receiver in yards Antonio Brown get across the line against the Ravens this Saturday night.

The @Steelers rule out @L_Bell26 for tomorrow's Wild Card Round game vs. Ravens. Details on https://t.co/edkYVvJ1hZ. https://t.co/PpyXZjdRlg

— Bob Labriola (@BobLabriola) January 2, 2015

As The Bleacher Report's Jason La Canfora tweeted out: "Steelers have ruled out Le'Veon Bell. Starting to leak bleak for A.J. Green of the Bengals as well. Key AFC North stars are ailing."

Steelers have ruled out Le'Veon Bell. Starting to leak bleak for AJ Green of the Bengals as well. Key AFC North stars are ailing

— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) January 2, 2015

As ESPN report, running back Bell injured his knee last week during the "Steelers' 27-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals when he took a helmet hit to his knee from safety Reggie Nelson."

It now falls to underrated rookie running back Josh Harris, fellow rookie Dri Archer and the recently signed Ben Tate to take Bell's place in the Steelers lineup during the team's biggest game of the season.

It's a tough ask: as ESPN Stats and Info tweeted out, Bell is only the "3rd player in NFL history with 1,300 rush yds & 800 receiving yds in a season (Steven Jackson & Marshall Faulk)."

Le'Veon Bell: 3rd player in NFL history with 1,300 rush yds & 800 receiving yds in a season (Steven Jackson & Marshall Faulk)

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 2, 2015

Their teammates, however, expect them to come up with the goods. Superstar Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown told ESPN "The guys have to step up. We know what [Bell] means to our team. I'm sure they're excited about their opportunities and we'll see what happens."

For his part, as per the Steelers, Harris told reporters "I feel like we all have made sure we did the things we needed to do all week so we can help out our team. As soon as they ask me to play, I am going to do all I can to make sure I can do it all."

You would certainly hope so: the Steelers have barely used any other running back since waiving LeGarrette Blount in November. As Grantland's Bill Barnwell points out:

Le'veon Bell had received 120 of Pittsburgh's 125 carries by a RB heading into this game since LeGarrette Blount left.

— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) December 29, 2014

Ouch. Can the Steelers overcome the loss of their primetime running back? Will Harris, Archer and Tate be enough to get their offense across the line against the Ravens?

Replacing Bell will be tough, but they are up for it. READ: https://t.co/yaEF1IEcpv WATCH: https://t.co/jcR61nCfuo pic.twitter.com/H7bplhPG48

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) January 2, 2015