The Pittsburgh Steelers closed out their 2017 regular season with a win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday and will now begin readying themselves for the playoffs. The snap counts from that game have now been compiled and there are several worth noting thanks to the players who were held out of the contest.
Offensive line – With center Maurkice Pouncey and guard David DeCastro both held out of Sunday’s finale, B.J. Finney and Matt Feiler both started in their respective places. Finney, however left the game after just 30 plays with a thigh injury and Chris Hubbard replaced him at center the remainder of the game. Feiler, Alejandro Villanueva, Ramon Foster and Marcus Gilbert played every offensive snap against the Browns. Jerald Hawkins played 17 snaps as an extra blocker.
Running backs – With Le’Veon Bell held out on Sunday his backups Stevan Ridley and Fitzgerald Toussaint played 29 and 30 snaps respectively. Fullback Roosevelt Nix played 17 offensive snaps in addition to playing some on special teams.
Wide receiver – With Antonio Brown sidelined again by a calf injury, rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster played 56 of 59 offensive snaps. Martavis Bryant played 33 snaps. Eli Rogers (26 snaps) and Darrius Heyward-Bey (3 snaps) and Justin Hunter (4 snaps) were the other three Steelers wide receivers to see the field on offense against the Browns.
Tight ends – Jesse James played 37 of 59 snaps as did Vance McDonald in his second game back from a shoulder injury. Xavier Grimble played just 6 offensive snaps in total against the Browns.
Defensive linemen – Cameron Heyward was held out Sunday so Stephon Tuitt (59 snaps) and Tyson Alualu (49 snaps) played the lion’s share of the defensive line snaps. Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave played just 30 snaps while defensive end L.T. Walton played 13 snaps and defensive tackle Daniel McCullers played just 2 in his first action in several weeks.
Outside linebackers – As usual, T.J. Watt (47 snaps) and Bud Dupree (47 snaps) once again played the lion’s share of defensive snaps on Sunday. Anthony Chickillo and Arthur Moats both played 18 snaps each in relief of the starters.
Inside linebackers – Vince Williams was on the field for 43 of 64 snaps against the Browns as was Sean Spence, who played his fourth game of the season with the team on Sunday. L.J. Fort was the only other inside linebacker to see defensive action against the Browns and he played just 20 snaps in total. Tyler Matakevich only played on special teams Sunday in his third game back from a shoulder injury.
Defensive backs – Cornerback Artie Burns, safety Sean Davis and safety Mike Mitchell all played every defensive snap against the Browns while cornerback Joe Haden played 62 of 64. Mike Hilton played 43 snaps in the slot while dimeback William Gay played just 22 snaps. Safety Robert Golden played 4 snaps while rookie cornerbacks Cameron Sutton played just 3 defensive snaps. Rookie cornerback Brian Allen was limited to playing only on special teams against the Browns.
| PLAYER | POS | OFFENSIVE SNAPS | DEFENSIVE SNAPS | SPECIAL TEAM SNAPS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M.Gilbert | T | 59 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 4 | 15% |
| R.Foster | G | 59 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 4 | 15% |
| M.Feiler | T | 59 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 4 | 15% |
| A.Villanueva | T | 59 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 4 | 15% |
| L.Jones | QB | 59 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| J.Smith-Schuster | WR | 56 | 95% | 0 | 0% | 4 | 15% |
| J.James | TE | 37 | 63% | 0 | 0% | 4 | 15% |
| V.McDonald | TE | 37 | 63% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| M.Bryant | WR | 33 | 56% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 4% |
| F.Toussaint | RB | 30 | 51% | 0 | 0% | 13 | 48% |
| B.Finney | C | 30 | 51% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| C.Hubbard | T | 29 | 49% | 0 | 0% | 4 | 15% |
| S.Ridley | RB | 29 | 49% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| E.Rogers | WR | 26 | 44% | 0 | 0% | 5 | 19% |
| R.Nix | FB | 17 | 29% | 0 | 0% | 19 | 70% |
| J.Hawkins | T | 17 | 29% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| X.Grimble | TE | 6 | 10% | 0 | 0% | 9 | 33% |
| J.Hunter | WR | 4 | 7% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| D.Heyward-Bey | WR | 3 | 5% | 0 | 0% | 11 | 41% |
| A.Burns | CB | 0 | 0% | 64 | 98% | 9 | 33% |
| S.Davis | S | 0 | 0% | 64 | 98% | 8 | 30% |
| M.Mitchell | S | 0 | 0% | 64 | 98% | 4 | 15% |
| J.Haden | CB | 0 | 0% | 62 | 95% | 4 | 15% |
| S.Tuitt | DE | 0 | 0% | 59 | 91% | 8 | 30% |
| T.Alualu | DE | 0 | 0% | 49 | 75% | 4 | 15% |
| T.Watt | OLB | 0 | 0% | 47 | 72% | 11 | 41% |
| B.Dupree | OLB | 0 | 0% | 47 | 72% | 2 | 7% |
| V.Williams | ILB | 0 | 0% | 43 | 66% | 7 | 26% |
| M.Hilton | CB | 0 | 0% | 43 | 66% | 5 | 19% |
| S.Spence | ILB | 0 | 0% | 43 | 66% | 3 | 11% |
| J.Hargrave | NT | 0 | 0% | 30 | 46% | 2 | 7% |
| W.Gay | CB | 0 | 0% | 22 | 34% | 0 | 0% |
| L.Fort | ILB | 0 | 0% | 20 | 31% | 19 | 70% |
| A.Chickillo | OLB | 0 | 0% | 18 | 28% | 21 | 78% |
| A.Moats | OLB | 0 | 0% | 18 | 28% | 8 | 30% |
| L.Walton | DE | 0 | 0% | 13 | 20% | 10 | 37% |
| R.Golden | S | 0 | 0% | 4 | 6% | 19 | 70% |
| C.Sutton | CB | 0 | 0% | 3 | 5% | 10 | 37% |
| D.McCullers | DT | 0 | 0% | 2 | 3% | 1 | 4% |
| T.Matakevich | ILB | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 19 | 70% |
| B.Allen | CB | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 9 | 33% |
| C.Boswell | K | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 9 | 33% |
| J.Berry | P | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 8 | 30% |
| K.Canaday | LS | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 8 | 30% |
| J.Wilcox | S | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 3 | 11% |
