The Pittsburgh Steelers fifth regular season game of 2018 against the Atlanta Falcons resulted in the team’s first home win of the year and now their record is 2-2-1 entering Week 6. The initial snap counts from the Week 5 game in Pittsburgh against the Falcons have now been released and below is a quick recap of the notable numbers.
Offensive linemen – Nothing really sticks out about this position group once again outside of center Maurkice Pouncey missing a few snaps late in the game following him being poked in the eye. Pouncey was replaced in the game by backup interior offensive lineman B.J. Finney. Backup tackle Chukwuma Okorafor played 7 offensive snaps as an extra blocker/tight end eligible player. Matt Feiler dressed for the Sunday game but did not see the field at all.
Wide receivers – Ryan Switzer had a reduced role in Sundays win over the Falcons as he played just 4 offensive snaps. While Justin Hunter did indeed dress in place of an injured Darrius Heyward-Bey, he still only saw the field twice in total on offense. Rookie James Washington played 35 snaps.
Running backs – James Conner played 45 offensive snaps in total against the Falcons, 74% of the possible 61. Backup running back Stevan Ridley played 12 snaps after not playing any on offense in Week 5. Rookie Jaylen Samuels was on the field for 2 snaps against the Falcons.
Tight ends – Vance McDonald continues to edge out backup tight end Jesse James in offensive playing time. Against the Falcons, McDonald played 37 offensive snaps while James played one less at 36. Backup Xavier Grimble played all of 10 snaps on Sunday and that’s a decent amount for him.
Defensive linemen – Backup Tyson Alualu played 29 of a possible 72 total defensive snaps against the Falcons. Daniel McCullers dressed again and played just 12 defensive snaps against the Falcons while starter Javon Hargrave logged 17 total snaps Sunday afternoon Starters Cameron Heyward and Stephon Tuitt played 51 and 52 defensive snaps, respectively.
Linebackers – Backup outside linebacker Anthony Chickillo logged 32 defensive snaps as he once again spelled starters T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree. Inside linebacker Jon Bostic played 43 of 72 possible snaps and fellow inside linebackers Tyler Matakevich and L.J. Fort logged 41 and 21 snaps, respectively, in place of the injured Vince Williams. Rookie inside linebacker Matthew Thomas played 4 defensive snaps to close out the game.
Cornerbacks – Coty Sensabaugh and Artie Burns rotated again at one outside spot with the latter getting the lion’s share of the total snaps at 42. With starting slot cornerback Mike Hilton back after his one-game absence due to an elbow injury, he played 55 of 72 possible snaps against the Falcons. Even Cameron Sutton saw the field on defense for 29 snaps in total.
Safeties – Veteran safety Morgan Burnett was inactive once again on Sunday so rookie Terrell Edmunds started in his place and played every snap once again along with fellow safety Sean Davis. Jordan Dangerfield was limited top only special teams snaps against the Falcons. He was the upback on the punt team as well.
| PLAYER | POS | OFFENSIVE SNAPS | DEFENSIVE SNAPS | SPECIAL TEAM SNAPS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R.Foster | G | 61 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 6 | 22% |
| M.Gilbert | T | 61 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 6 | 22% |
| D.DeCastro | G | 61 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 6 | 22% |
| A.Villanueva | T | 61 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 6 | 22% |
| B.Roethlisberger | QB | 60 | 98% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| M.Pouncey | C | 59 | 97% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| A.Brown | WR | 57 | 93% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| J.Smith-Schuster | WR | 50 | 82% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| J.Conner | RB | 45 | 74% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| V.McDonald | TE | 37 | 61% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| J.James | TE | 36 | 59% | 0 | 0% | 6 | 22% |
| J.Washington | WR | 35 | 57% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| S.Ridley | RB | 12 | 20% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| X.Grimble | TE | 10 | 16% | 0 | 0% | 4 | 15% |
| R.Nix | FB | 8 | 13% | 0 | 0% | 18 | 67% |
| C.Okorafor | T | 7 | 11% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| R.Switzer | WR | 4 | 7% | 0 | 0% | 8 | 30% |
| B.Finney | C | 2 | 3% | 0 | 0% | 6 | 22% |
| J.Samuels | RB | 2 | 3% | 0 | 0% | 4 | 15% |
| J.Hunter | WR | 2 | 3% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| J.Dobbs | QB | 1 | 2% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| T.Edmunds | S | 0 | 0% | 72 | 100% | 17 | 63% |
| S.Davis | S | 0 | 0% | 72 | 100% | 6 | 22% |
| J.Haden | CB | 0 | 0% | 71 | 99% | 4 | 15% |
| B.Dupree | OLB | 0 | 0% | 60 | 83% | 2 | 7% |
| M.Hilton | CB | 0 | 0% | 55 | 76% | 0 | 0% |
| S.Tuitt | DE | 0 | 0% | 52 | 72% | 8 | 30% |
| T.Watt | OLB | 0 | 0% | 52 | 72% | 2 | 7% |
| C.Heyward | DT | 0 | 0% | 51 | 71% | 8 | 30% |
| J.Bostic | ILB | 0 | 0% | 43 | 60% | 7 | 26% |
| A.Burns | CB | 0 | 0% | 42 | 58% | 13 | 48% |
| T.Matakevich | ILB | 0 | 0% | 41 | 57% | 18 | 67% |
| A.Chickillo | OLB | 0 | 0% | 32 | 44% | 20 | 74% |
| C.Sensabaugh | CB | 0 | 0% | 31 | 43% | 10 | 37% |
| C.Sutton | CB | 0 | 0% | 29 | 40% | 14 | 52% |
| T.Alualu | DE | 0 | 0% | 29 | 40% | 2 | 7% |
| L.Fort | ILB | 0 | 0% | 27 | 38% | 18 | 67% |
| J.Hargrave | DT | 0 | 0% | 17 | 24% | 0 | 0% |
| D.McCullers | DT | 0 | 0% | 12 | 17% | 3 | 11% |
| M.Thomas | ILB | 0 | 0% | 4 | 6% | 8 | 30% |
| B.Allen | CB | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 18 | 67% |
| J.Dangerfield | S | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 17 | 63% |
| C.Boswell | K | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 14 | 52% |
| K.Canaday | LS | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 37% |
| J.Berry | P | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 8 | 30% |
