Welcome back to Steelers snap counts following a Week 16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Approaching their game with the Kansas City Chiefs, what takeaways might carry over into Week 17?
Steelers Week 16 snap count takeaways
Calvin Austin logged his second straight week with 80% of the Steelers’ offensive snap counts, operating as Pittsburgh’s de facto WR1 without George Pickens. Van Jefferson wasn’t far behind, playing 78%, while Scotty Miller (43%) and Mike Williams (37%) rounded out the top four. It feels safe to say that we won’t be seeing a larger role from Williams this season.
Jaylen Warren was far and away the Steelers’ top running back against Baltimore, playing 67% of the offensive snaps to Najee Harris’ 28%. Cordarrelle Patterson played just 5%. After the game, Mike Tomlin stated it was largely due to the flow of the game rather than a statement on the running back hierarchy. Harris and Warren have both spent time as the Steelers’ RB1 this season, although Harris’ last game with the majority of the snaps was back in Week 13.
On defense, Cam Heyward has been seeing a lot of snaps, playing 81% of defensive plays in Week 16.
The Steelers played a lot of inside linebackers against Baltimore: Patrick Queen played 100% of defensive snaps, Elandon Roberts logged an impressive 76%, while Payton Wilson and Mark Robinson played 35% and 8%, respectively. A big increase for Roberts against the Ravens’ rushing attack.
Without Larry Ogunjobi, Dean Lowry was the Steelers’ DL3 behind Heyward and Keeanu Benton, playing 50% of defensive snaps.
Another week with low defensive snap counts for the Steelers’ slot cornerbacks Beanie Bishop Jr. (27%) and Cam Sutton (31%). Against a less run-heavy offense in Kansas City this week, it’ll be interesting to watch how the numbers change.
Your weekly update on how the Steelers rotated their pass-rushers: T.J. Watt (77% of defensive snaps), Alex Highsmith (71%), Nick Herbig (31%), and Preston Smith (21%). Watt’s snap count wasn’t that affected by his injury.
After playing 81% of defensive snaps in place of DeShon Elliott last week, Damontae Kazee played just 68% against Baltimore.
As was obvious on the broadcast, James Pierre (81%) and Cory Trice Jr. (79%) were the Steelers’ two top corners in terms of snap counts on Saturday following injuries to Joey Porter Jr. and Donte Jackson. Trice added 21 more special teams plays, logging a team-best 70 snaps in his first game on the active roster since Week 3. A tiring day for the second-year defender.
The Steelers’ offensive-to-defensive plays ratio this week: 60:62. A big improvement from last week, even if the final result was still a loss.
Making the most of it award
Cordarrelle Patterson played just three offensive snaps, and yet he scored on the Steelers’ best highlight of the game. No. 84 is the clear winner this week.
Now, here’s a full look at the Steelers snap counts from Week 16’s loss:
Steelers Week 16 snap counts
Snap counts via Next Gen Stats.
Offense Week 16
Player
POS
Offensive snaps
OS%
Total snaps
Player
POS
Offensive snaps
OS%
Total snaps
Mason McCormick
G
60
100%
63
Broderick Jones
T
60
100%
63
Russell Wilson
QB
60
100%
60
Dan Moore Jr.
T
60
100%
60
Zach Frazier
C
60
100%
60
Isaac Seumalo
G
60
100%
60
Calvin Austin III
WR
48
80%
51
Van Jefferson
WR
47
78%
47
Pat Freiermuth
TE
41
68%
44
Jaylen Warren
RB
40
67%
47
Darnell Washington
TE
26
43%
29
Scott Miller
WR
26
43%
26
Mike Williams
WR
22
37%
22
Najee Harris
RB
17
28%
17
MyCole Pruitt
TE
14
23%
14
Ben Skowronek
WR
10
17%
18
Connor Heyward
TE
6
10%
24
Cordarrelle Patterson
RB
3
5%
10
Defense Week 16
Player
POS
Defensive snaps
DS%
Total snaps
Player
POS
Defensive snaps
DS%
Total snaps
Minkah Fitzpatrick
FS
62
100%
68
Patrick Queen
ILB
62
100%
68
James Pierre
CB
51
82%
66
Cameron Heyward
DT
50
81%
55
Cory Trice Jr.
CB
49
79%
70
T.J. Watt
OLB
48
77%
49
Elandon Roberts
ILB
47
76%
53
Alex Highsmith
OLB
44
71%
50
Damontae Kazee
SS
42
68%
51
Keeanu Benton
DT
41
66%
46
Dean Lowry
DE
31
50%
37
Isaiahh Loudermilk
DE
23
37%
30
Payton Wilson
ILB
22
35%
40
Montravius Adams
NT
21
34%
22
Nick Herbig
OLB
19
31%
35
Cameron Sutton
CB
19
31%
23
Beanie Bishop Jr.
CB
17
27%
27
Joey Porter Jr.
CB
16
26%
16
Preston Smith
DE
13
21%
13
Mark Robinson
ILB
5
8%
23
Special teams Week 16
Player
POS
Special teams
ST%
Total snaps
Player
POS
Special teams
ST%
Total snaps
Cory Trice Jr.
CB
21
78%
70
Payton Wilson
ILB
18
67%
40
Connor Heyward
TE
18
67%
24
Mark Robinson
ILB
18
67%
23
Miles Killebrew
SS
18
67%
18
Tyler Matakevich
MLB
18
67%
18
Jeremiah Moon
OLB
18
67%
18
Nick Herbig
OLB
16
59%
35
James Pierre
CB
15
56%
66
Beanie Bishop Jr.
CB
10
37%
27
Damontae Kazee
SS
9
33%
51
Ben Skowronek
WR
8
30%
18
Christian Kuntz
LS
8
30%
8
Corliss Waitman
P
8
30%
8
Jaylen Warren
RB
7
26%
47
Isaiahh Loudermilk
DE
7
26%
30
Cordarrelle Patterson
RB
7
26%
10
Minkah Fitzpatrick
FS
6
22%
68
Patrick Queen
ILB
6
22%
68
Elandon Roberts
ILB
6
22%
53
Alex Highsmith
OLB
6
22%
50
Dean Lowry
DE
6
22%
37
Chris Boswell
K
6
22%
6
Cameron Heyward
DT
5
19%
55
Keeanu Benton
DT
5
19%
46
Cameron Sutton
CB
4
15%
23
Mason McCormick
G
3
11%
63
Broderick Jones
T
3
11%
63
Calvin Austin III
WR
3
11%
51
Pat Freiermuth
TE
3
11%
44
Darnell Washington
TE
3
11%
29
Spencer Anderson
T
3
11%
3
Ryan McCollum
C
3
11%
3
T.J. Watt
OLB
1
4%
49
Montravius Adams
NT
1
4%
22
What are your takeaways from this week’s snap counts? Join the Behind the Steel Curtain community and let us know in the comments!
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