Dec 9, 2016 By Jim Wexell for The 6 min read

PITTSBURGH — It was 2007, Bruce Arians’ first season as Steelers offensive coordinator and Dan Kreider’s last as Steelers fullback.

But, according to Rex Ryan, it wasn’t B.A. who did away with Kreider. That was B.S.

“I’ll never forget the time when he had this fullback who was chirping,” Ryan began.

Ryan is the coach of this week’s Steelers opponent, the Buffalo Bills, and he was regaling Pittsburgh media Wednesday with a favorite Mike Tomlin story.

“Pittsburgh beat us pretty good one day in Baltimore. They actually killed us,” Ryan continued. “And at the end of the game, we’re still competing, and this fullback was standing on the sideline by Tomlin. He was talking noise to Bart Scott. And Bart was over there ‘Come on back on the field and we’ll settle it on the field.’ And Mike looked at him and said, ‘Bart, you want a piece of this fullback?’ And he goes, ‘Hell, yeah.’ So Tomlin ran an isolation at him. Bart separated the dude’s shoulder.”

Ryan stopped to laugh loudly as the reporters remained quiet.

“Might not have been the best thing,” Ryan said as he collected himself. “But I think it shows you the kind of competitor Mike is and just the fact both of us are old-school guys as far as football, and appreciative of the players that play the game.

“I enjoy going up against his teams. Of all the games you go up against, it’s like, wow, because the only way you’re going to win this one is your team’s got to be more physical, and that’s always been a staple of a Mike Tomlin-coached team.”

It was even more so before Scott, or more accurately Arians, did away with the fullback.

“We don’t have any fullbacks,” Arians, then the Steelers offensive coordinator, proudly said a day after releasing Carey Davis, who had replaced Kreider, who was last true fullback the team has employed.

“There isn’t a fullback in my offense,” Arians raved that day. “And there’s never going to be one.”

The Steelers went from Davis a series of RB/FB and TE/FB hybrids before signing a college defensive tackle, Rosie Nix, to play the position when necessary. And it was necessary this past weekend when that staple of physicality returned.

At least if we are to believe the fullback crowd.

“The what crowd?” asked Ben Roethlisberger.

The fullback crowd.

“The fullback crowd. OK,” Roethlisberger said with a laugh.

But it’s big in Pittsburgh, you know.

“Oh, I know it is,” he said. “I’ve been here a long time.”

That fullback crowd is hoping that the last game — the win over the Giants in which the Steelers used mixtures of three tackles, three tight ends and the fullback — marked a departure in Todd Haley’s philosophy.

Or was it just a wrinkle?

“I would say it’s an end-of-the-game type of thing, but we are using Rosie even in the beginning of games,” Roethlisberger said. “We’re putting him on linebackers. I know that Le’Veon loves running behind Rosie because Rosie’s like a lineman out there with his nastiness and his tenacity. He’s getting after guys, and it’s a lot of fun to see.”

And then Roethlisberger hit on the answer to the question: “I think it’s great just being able to be versatile and have multiple guys out there, just like the tight end sets. Having a fullback can bring different formations and options to the game as well.”

OK, so, it’s just a wrinkle. But it certainly was effective. With Chris Hubbard playing a third offensive tackle on 25 percent of the snaps, and No. 3 tight end David Johnson playing 29 percent of the snaps, and Nix playing 15 percent of the snaps, the Steelers had some big men in the box and thus were matched by the Giants’ big men in the box. It was a morass of humanity through which Le’Veon Bell picked his way for 118 yards on 29 carries.

He was the first 100-yard rusher in 13 games against the Giants, and he said he prefers running behind and between all of those bodies.

“Love it. Love it,” said Bell. “On first-and-10, when we got the big guys in, whether they bring a safety down or not, there’s really nothing they can do. When the guys up front do their job, it makes it a lot easier for me to pick a hole and do what I want to do. When we’ve got two TEs and a fullback in the game, I always feel like we can get three or four yards every time. We’re a tough team to stop when we line up in big personnel.”

Hubbard, Nix and Johnson also had heavy participation in the previous game. Nix’s 26 snaps the last two games are more action than he’s seen since Games 13-15 last season, when DeAngelo Williams had two 100-yard games down the stretch for the Steelers.

Even Shady McCoy of the Bills, who are the No. 1 rushing team in the NFL, became excited when asked about running behind a fullback.

“Oh, our fullback is balling right now,” McCoy said. “I love Jerome Felton. The way he’s playing? Shhhhhoot.”

So much for big-boy football being passe in the NFL these days. In fact, with the snow and wind predicted in Buffalo on Sunday, big-boy football will most likely determine the winner.

“I love it, man,” said Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey. “It shows the demeanor of the football team, that we can finish off football games.”

And the fans — at least the fans in Pittsburgh — seem to enjoy it.

“We’re bringing back the old days for them, huh? Is that what they asking for?” asked Pouncey. “Well tell them I agree. I totally agree, man. If the fans want it, we’ve got to give it to ’em. They pay the bills, right?”

Right.

NOTES — Big Dan McCullers confirmed he’s been working as the first-team nose tackle this week in place of the concussed Javon Hargrave. “I’m ready to go. It’s a big opportunity against a very good running team,” said McCullers. “The coaches put a game plan together that kept it simple for us to execute. We’re having a good week of practice.” … Missing their second practices of the week Thursday, along with Hargrave, were PK Chris Boswell (abdomen), LG Ramon Foster (chest), WR Darrius Heyward-Bey (foot), S Shamarko Thomas (concussion) and RB DeAngelo Williams (knee). Missing their first practices of the week Thursday were TE Ladarius Green (not injury related) and QB Zach Mettenberger (illness). … The only player to miss the entire Bills practice Thursday was reserve linebacker Lerentee McCray (concussion).