Le'Veon Bell's expression twisted, contorted and, eventually, just crumbled.
Yeah, just like the knee.
And maybe, depending on the perspective, just like the Steelers' 2015 season.
To see the franchise running back seated on a gurney by the sideline, grimacing with each touch from tending athletic trainer John Norwig, it just felt ... wrong. Like it shouldn't have been happening. It couldn't have been happening. Not on this sunny-side-up autumnal Sunday at Heinz Field that was custom-crafted for football. Not with all four of the home team's offensive stars finally sharing a huddle. Not with Ben Roethlisberger having ripped apart the Bengals on an opening drive unlike anything witnessed in the month he was out.
This was the day it would all take off. Or at least turn around.
Until it wasn't ...
"It was just ... it shook you, you know?" Marcus Gilbert recalled thinking upon seeing Bell rolling and writhing along the sideline clutching that knee. That same knee. That same sight. That same demoralizing, debilitating feeling that followed.
And yeah, that same opponent doing the damage.
With that same opponent prevailing this time: Bengals 16, Steelers 10.
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