The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Denver Broncos 31-19 in the season opener and now we have our first look at the new offense of Todd Halley, and more specifically, the personnel groupings that he used down and distance wise.
Haley, who chose to use a lot of 12 personnel during the preseason, meaning one running back, two tight ends and two wide receivers, instead primarily used 11 personnel, one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers, Sunday night against the Broncos. In fact 52 of the 71 offensive plays that the Steelers ran included three wide receivers on the field.
The Steelers used the 11 personnel grouping on 1st & 10 a total of 17 times, for an average gain of 3.88 yards. The breakdown of run versus pass on those 17 plays was 6 versus 11.
Of course when you have receivers like Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders, it is no wonder why each saw the field so much at the same time, but as you can see by the results, especial on 1st & 10, it didn\’t amount to a hill of beans.
Although there is a fullback on the roster now in the form of Will Johnson, only 12 plays were there two backs in the backfield and only 8 times was Johnson in as the fullback.
One interesting thing that this personnel chart also reveals to us, is that on second down, the Steelers offense faced 7 or more yards to go 15 times out of 24 plays. That accounts for the 11 personnel grouping being used 12 plays right there, and with good reason, as those down and distances generally call for a pass and on 8 of those 12 plays, the Steelers did indeed pass. Overall on 2nd & 7 or more, the Steelers passed 8 times and ran on the 7 other.
The Steelers never had 4 wide receivers on the field and always had 1 running back. 1 tight end was on the field for all but 1 play.
Personnel Package Counts
| Personnel | RBs | TEs | WRs | Plays |
| 11 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 52 |
| 12 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 13 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 20 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 21 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 22 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Personnel Package Counts By Down & Distance
| First Down | ||||||||||
| YTG | # RBs | # TEs | # WRs | # Plays | Avg Gain | # Rush | # Pass | Pass % | Rush Avg | Pass Avg |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2.00 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 2.00 | 0.00 |
| 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3.33 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% | 3.33 | 0.00 |
| 10 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 3.88 | 6 | 11 | 64.71% | 2.47 | 1.41 |
| 10 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | -6.00 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | -6.00 | 0.00 |
| 15 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3.50 | 2 | 0 | 0.00% | 3.50 | 0.00 |
| Second Down | ||||||||||
| YTG | # RBs | # TEs | # WRs | # Plays | Avg Gain | # Rush | # Pass | Pass % | Rush Avg | Pass Avg |
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | -1.00 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | -1.00 | 0.00 |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 1.00 | 0.00 |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 12.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8.50 | 0 | 2 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 8.50 |
| 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 1.00 | 0.00 |
| 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | -2.00 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | -2.00 | 0.00 |
| 8 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| 10 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 2.00 | 4 | 2 | 33.33% | 2.00 | 0.00 |
| 11 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 10.00 | 0 | 2 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 13 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 15 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 15 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 10.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 16 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3.00 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 3.00 | 0.00 |
| 17 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 13.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 13.00 |
| Third Down | ||||||||||
| YTG | # RBs | # TEs | # WRs | # Plays | Avg Gain | # Rush | # Pass | Pass % | Rush Avg | Pass Avg |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2.00 | 2 | 2 | 50.00% | 2.00 | 0.00 |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | -10.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | -10.00 |
| 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| 9 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 13.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 13.00 |
| 10 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 15.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 15.00 |
| 11 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 23.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 23.00 |
| 12 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 15.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 15.00 |
| 13 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4.00 | 0 | 2 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| 15 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 14.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| 18 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 23.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | 23.00 |
| Fourth Down | ||||||||||
| YTG | # RBs | # TEs | # WRs | # Plays | Avg Gain | # Rush | # Pass | Pass % | Rush Avg | Pass Avg |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2.00 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 2.00 | 0.00 |
| 15 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | -5.00 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 0.00 | -5.00 |
