You can learn a lot about the 2024 Steelers from the team’s snap counts.
Welcome back to Steelers snap counts following a Week 17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. It was an ugly loss, but there are still things to learn from the team’s snap counts:
Steelers Week 17 snap count takeaways
- Calvin Austin III officially overtook Van Jefferson as the Steelers’ WR2 in terms of snaps, playing 75% of offensive snaps to Jefferson’s 41%. George Pickens, of course, took the top spot with 90% in his return. Mike Williams played 42%, also overtaking Jefferson, with a Steelers season-high in snaps played.
- Darnell Washington played just 34% of offensive snaps on Wednesday while Pat Freiermuth played 60%. Both tight ends’ snap counts were down, but Washington’s especially. The Steelers were going with lighter personnel late to try to catch up on the scoreboard.
- Max Scharping and Spencer Anderson received some snaps late in relief of Isaac Seumalo and Dan Moore Jr. Mike Tomlin chose to test some of the offensive line reserves in garbage time.
- Cordarrelle Patterson saw just one offensive snap on Wednesday. Jaylen Warren (53% of offensive snaps) once again out-snapped Najee Harris (45%).
- DeShon Elliott played 93% of defensive snaps in his return; Damontae Kazee sank from 68% last week to 26% against the Chiefs.
- Cam Sutton played 71% of defensive snaps on Wednesday. The Steelers preferred the veteran going against Patrick Mahomes, even if the results were less than stellar.
- Larry Ogunjobi played just 33% of the defensive snaps in his return. Some of it was likely circumstantial, but he might not have been completely healthy.
- Cory Trice Jr. played 74% of defensive snaps to James Pierre’s 31%. The Steelers found who they prefer on the boundary.
- With no Preston Smith, here’s how the Steelers divvied up the outside linebacker reps: Alex Highsmith (83% of defensive snaps) T.J. Watt (78%), Nick Herbig (38%), and Jeremiah Moon (9%). The Steelers had Moon on the active roster over Smith due to the former’s special teams ability.
- Elandon Roberts (53% of defensive snaps) interestingly out-snapped Payton Wilson (47%) for another week despite playing a more pass-heavy attack.
- The Steelers’ offensive-to-defensive plays ratio this week: 73:58. The Steelers had the most offensive plays, but that didn’t result in more points.
Making the most of it award
There aren’t many strong candidates this week, but Mark Robinson did force a fumble despite playing just 17 total snaps. The Steelers didn’t recover the said fumble, but it’s still enough to win this week’s award.
Now, here’s a full look at the Steelers snap counts from Week 17’s loss:
Steelers Week 17 snap counts
Snap counts via Next Gen Stats.
What are your takeaways from this week’s snap counts? Join the Behind the Steel Curtain community and let us know in the comments!