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As patient as he needs to be

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HURRY UP AND WAIT:** He ran this way at Michigan State, Le'Veon Bell maintains, but he was a bigger back in those days and he wasn't as nimble or as quick as he is today.

He also wasn't as comfortable with pushing the limits of the patient approach he's in the process of perfecting at the NFL level, the one that leaves defenders grasping for air and observers grouping for comparisons.

"The last game (on Sunday against Miami), I had a run on the goal line where I literally stopped my feet," Bell acknowledged. "That's something I don't think I've ever done before."

Bell did it against the Dolphins, anyway.

Touchdown, Steelers.

What'll he think of next?

"I feel comfortable because my O-line trusts me, my coaches trust me to put the ball in the right spot and I still ended up getting in the end zone," Bell said. "It's just something that kind of came to me naturally. It's just the way I ended up running the ball. Even in high school and college I was patient. I just think the more I grew I understood the game of football and where exactly a hole is going to hit and how I could look at a D-lineman's technique and where they're lined up, how I'm going to set up the hole.

"I just think as I got better over the course of every rep in practice, every rep in the game, I just think I got better at it. And obviously trusting my O-linemen to do their jobs, us being on the same page, doing extra meeting times has allowed me to do my thing with that.

"Near the end of my rookie year I stared seeing it. When I first came in they weren't knowing how I run the ball yet. A lot of people would still try to rush me a little bit. I think the more comfortable I got, and I was able to go out there and make plays, they kind of let me sit back and do my thing."

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DON'T BLINK:** Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill was a relatively unknown fifth-round draft pick from West Alabama the first time the two teams got together.

This time, he's the 5-foot-10, 185-pound rookie who has used his 4.29-speed in the 40-yard dash well enough to score 12 touchdowns.

"He's fast, he's explosive, he's a good player, he's an All-Pro," said wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, one of the Steelers who figures to be chasing Hill around on special teams on Sunday afternoon at Arrowhead Stadium.

"I don't care who's back there, you have to tackle whoever has the ball. Play ball, trust in your fundamentals and tackle, simple as that."

Hill had six catches for 43 yards and one touchdown and two carries for minus 4 yards and hadn't returned a kickoff or a punt for a touchdown when the Steelers hosted the Chiefs on Oct. 2.

The Steelers prepare for the Divisional matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.

He finished the regular season with 61 catches for 593 yards and six touchdowns, 24 carries for 267 yards and three touchdowns, two punt-return touchdowns and another TD on a kickoff return.

Hill had five catches for 24 yards and one touchdown, one carry for minus 2 yards, two punt returns for 20 yards and two kickoff returns for 54 yards in the Chiefs' 43-14 loss to the Steelers on Oct. 2 at Heinz Field. He also had a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown nullified by a penalty.

"He can run," Heyward-Bey said. "I can run, too."

HE SAID IT: "Sometimes I'll wait and wait until the hole I wanted to go to opens up, and then I'll actually take it." _ Bell on running the ball.

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