Steelers Vs. Bears: Player Snap Counts – Week 3

The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered their first loss of the 2017 regular season on Sunday as the Chicago Bears beat them 23-17 at Soldier Field. The snap counts from the game have now been compiled and while there aren’t many surprises included in them, there are a few totals worth pointing out.

Offensive line – Not much to see here outside of B.J. Finney needing to replace Ramon Foster at left guard when he left the game with a thumb injury. The starters left to right were Alejandro Villanueva, Foster, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro and Chris Hubbard, who filled in for the injured Marcus Gilbert. The Steelers never used an extra offensive lineman as a blocking tight end on Sunday.

Running backs – It was the Le’Veon Bell show Sunday against the Bears as he played all but two offensive snaps. Terrell Watson saw the field on one play while rookie James Conner was limited to just special teams work.

Wide receiver – Rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster played 51 offensive snaps against the Bears and that was second only to Antonio Brown. Eli Rogers is starting to see a reduction in playing time as he played just 21 snaps against the Bears, Curiously, Darrius Heyward-Bey played two snaps on Sunday.

Tight ends – Jesse James played 46 total snaps and that number likely would have been higher had he not have to leave the game to get an injured shoulder checked. Vance McDonald played 16 offensive snaps while Xavier Grimble played just 8.

Defensive linemen – Filling in for an injured Stephon Tuitt, Tyson Alualu played 57 of a possible 65 snaps against the Bears. L.T. Walton played 18 and Daniel McCullers surprisingly played 8.

Outside linebackers – With rookie T.J. Watt out injured, Anthony Chickillo played 95% of the defensive snaps at right outside linebacker. He was replaced for 3 plays by veteran James Harrison. Arthur Moats also played just 3 snaps against the Bears.

Inside linebackers – Vince Williams was off the field for 10 snaps in total. Tyler Matakevich and L.J. Fort were both in for a goal-line play that resulted in a short touchdown pass to a Bears tight end.

Defensive backs – Cornerback Mike Hilton played 20 snaps in the slot and William Gay played 10 in total. Safety Mike Mitchell played 55 of 65 total snaps and safety J.J. Wilcox played 35 with most being as a replacement for safety Sean Davis, who suffered an ankle injury during Sundays game.