Birkett: Lions need more Abdullah, less Bell

Joique Bell led the Detroit Lions with 10 carries in Sunday's loss to the Denver Broncos. One of the biggest mysteries of the young season is why?

As the Detroit Lions continue to look for answers for their NFL-worst rushing attack, the clearest, most simple solution seems to be more of Ameer Abdullah and less of Bell.

Abdullah hasn't exactly lit the NFL on fire three games into his career. He's at just 82 yards rushing for the season.

But he has two highlight-reel touchdowns, including one Sunday against the Broncos, and is easily the most electric option in a backfield in need of a major spark.

"It's vitally important (we get the running game going)," Lions coach Jim Caldwell said Monday. "It'll help our whole operation."

Bell has done little to help the Lions' offense so far, and at 29 and eight months removed from his second knee surgery in the last 20 months, chances are starting to fade that it happens.

Bell has just 22 yards rushing on 20 carries this year, an average of 1.1 yards per attempt.

He's gained 1 or fewer yards on 16 of his 20 carries, and on Sunday he looked old or slow or hurt – or a combination of all three – against a good Broncos defense.

"That's your observation, which you're entitled too," Caldwell said Monday, defending the player who led the Lions with 860 yards rushing last year.

Asked how he thought Bell played against the Broncos, Caldwell said, "Just like everybody else, not as well as they're capable."

It's true that the Lions have bigger, more pressing issues than Bell. They fell to 0-3 Sunday as Matthew Stafford committed three turnovers, Darius Slay got beat on two long pass plays and the offensive line and special teams fell apart.

But two of the Lions' best players this fall have been Abdullah and No. 3 running back Theo Riddick, and the more time they spend on the bench, the worse things seem to get for the Lions offense.

Caldwell said he and his staff are constantly evaluating who should be playing running back, and no one is suggesting Bell's days in Detroit are done.

Bell remains the Lions' best short-yardage back – he scored on a 1-yard dive Sunday. He's assignment sound and willing as a blocker. And he still has reliable hands.

But less should be more with Bell for now, at least until he gets juice back in his legs.

"He didn't perform as well as he's capable," Caldwell said. "Got the ball in the end zone for us, he blocked. He obviously did his blocking assignments and those kinds of things. But just like any other position, it's not always on him. He can't create his own opportunities sometimes. Sometimes he does – last year he did quite a few where a couple guys would hit him, he'd bounce off and go, and this game wasn't quite that way."

Fact is, Sunday's game wasn't that way for Abdullah or Riddick, either, though both backs made an impact in their own way.

Abdullah had eight carries for a game-high 23 yards and scored on a 16-yard catch, when he lost linebacker Brandon Marshall with an option route on his way to the end zone. Riddick, who led the Lions' running backs in snaps in last week's loss to the Vikings, caught eight of the 10 passes thrown his way Sunday, when he played just 16 snaps, mostly late in the game.

If Bell can do more in his limited role, the Lions will be better because of it.

If he can't, the Lions should feel comfortable riding Abdullah the rest of the way.

"He's not quite where he used to be, or where he was last year," Caldwell said of Bell. "But I think he'll get there."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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