It's starting to look like "Bullet" Bill Dudley can rest easy. His rushing title in 1946 will likely remain the last won by a Steelers running back.
Though there have been no official pronouncements, it's looking as if Le'Veon Bell will sit out the team's regular season finale Sunday at Heinz Field against the winless Cleveland Browns. Bell was listed as a limited participant at practice Thursday in a coach's decision.
That would mean that the Rams' Todd Gurley, who currently leads Bell by 14 yards, or Kansas City's Kareem Hunt, who has one more yard than Bell's 1,291, will likely lead the NFL in rushing. Rams head coach Sean McVay has already said Gurley will not play this week against San Francisco, while Kansas City's Andy Reid hasn't said whether or not Hunt will play.
Mike Tomlin said earlier in the week he hadn't decided on who will play and who will not. But the players were told Thursday of Tomlin's plans, even if they weren't willing to come right out and say it.
"I think Gurley might have that one if I were to bet on it," Steelers Pro Bowl guard David DeCastro told DKPittsburghSports.com of the rushing title. "We've got bigger and better things to worry about than that stuff."
With a bye week wrapped up, the Steelers might not be inclined to play Bell, even if they do use their other starters, including quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown has already been declared out for this game because of a calf injury suffered two weeks ago against New England, and having both him and Bell available for the team's first playoff game in two weeks trumps any thoughts of a rushing title.
Bell, who leads the NFL with 321 carries and 406 total touches, is fine with that.
"I just want to win the Super Bowl. I’ve been talking about the rushing title all year. I don’t really care about that," Bell told DKPittsburghSports.com. "I want to go out there and make sure I’m healthy for the playoffs and make a run to the Super Bowl."
If the Steelers needed any reminder of what it's like to not have Bell, Brown or even Roethlisberger available, they only need to look back at their recent playoff history for examples.
In 2014, they lost to Baltimore in the opening round of the playoffs without Bell after he suffered a knee injury in the regular season finale against Cincinnati. In 2015, they lost Bell at midseason to another knee injury suffered against the Bengals, while Brown was knocked out of the playoffs in an opening-round win at Cincinnati. Without their top two offensive weapons and Roethlisberger nursing a shoulder injury, the Steelers lost the following week at Denver.
In both of those years, the Steelers were forced to play their stars throughout the regular season because they had struggled at some point and had to scramble into the playoffs.
And last season, they lost at New England in the AFC Championship when Bell left the game early in the first quarter with a groin injury that eventually required surgery.
With a first-round bye wrapped up, the only thing the Steelers can do now is get the No. 1 seed in the AFC. But that also would require New England (12-3) to lose to the New York Jets (5-10) at home Sunday. Nobody is counting on that.
So the Steelers will be content with having a bye for the first time since 2010, something they wrapped up last week by winning after Jacksonville was upset at San Francisco.
"It's nice. It's really nice. We've been here in the past and we've been jockeying for position. We deserve this. We've had to go out there and earn it," said DeCastro. "Jacksonville kind of gave us a chance with losing to San Fran. We knew we had to win. We've just got to take advantage of it. Don't get too relaxed."
There will be little chance of that happening. Because of all the drama surrounding the team this season -- including the release of its all-time sacks leader James Harrison last Saturday and the eventual fallout after he signed with perennial nemesis New England -- the team has maintained a laser focus.
So even if Bell and Brown are the only ones who sit the game out completely, there's little concern they won't be ready to play when called upon.
Brown needs to get healthy, while Bell will continue to work in practice.
"I know I’ll be about to get back into football mode whether I take one or two weeks off, I will only be taking off the games," Bell told me. "I’ll still be practicing and everything else. It will just be taking hits off my body. I’ll be ready."
Rushing title be damned. Bullet Bill, who died in 2010, can keep his spot in Steelers' history.