The Pittsburgh Steelers ninth regular season game of 2018 against the Carolina Panthers resulted in the team’s third home win of the year and now their record is 6-2-1 entering Week 11. The initial snap counts from the Week 10 game in Pittsburgh against the Panthers have now been released and below is a quick recap of the notable numbers.
Offensive linemen – Alejandro Villanueva, Ramon Foster and Matt Feiler were the only three offensive linemen to play every offensive snap Thursday night as the Steelers were able to pull starters Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro from the game early thanks to the lopsided score. B.J. Finney took over at center for Pouncey and Feiler moved from right tackle to right guard when DeCastro was pulled. Rookie Chukwuma Okorafor took over at right tackle for Feiler and he played 9 snaps in total.
Wide receivers – Rookie wide receiver James Washington was active again Thursday night while veteran Justin Hunter was inactive, and he played 79% of all offensive snaps against the Panthers yet failed to register a catch. Fellow veteran wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey played 10 snaps in total Thursday night while Ryan Switzer logged just 8 snaps.
Running backs – James Conner played all of 24 offensive snaps against the Panthers before exiting the contest with a possible concussion in the second half. Backup running back Stevan Ridley played 10 snaps and rookie running back Jaylen Samuels logged a season-high 17 plays. After not playing any offensive snaps in Week 9, fullback Roosevelt Nix played 6 Thursday night against the Panthers.
Tight ends – In a bit of a switch, Jesse James played 34 offensive snaps while Vance McDonald played only 25 Thursday night. Backup Xavier Grimble even played 16 offensive snaps against the Panthers.
Defensive linemen – Stephon Tuitt led all Steelers defensive linemen with 44 snaps played against the Panthers while fellow starter Cameron Heyward was close behind him with 40 total snaps played. Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave played 37 snaps, a lot for him, while backups Tyson Alualu and L.T. Walton, who dressed for just the second time this season Thursday night, logged 19 and 13 snaps, respectively.
Linebackers – Backup outside linebacker Anthony Chickillo logged 27 defensive snaps as he once again spelled starters T.J. Watt (38) and Bud Dupree (49). Inside linebackers Jon Bostic and Vince Williams respectively played 48 and 40 of possible 53 snaps and fellow inside linebacker L.J. Fort filled in for 9 snaps behind them in meaningful playing time. Backup Tyler Matakevich managed get on the field for 11 total defensive snaps in the fourth quarter thanks to the score being lopsided.
Cornerbacks – Coty Sensabaugh started in place of a benched Artie Burns once again and played every defensive snap Thursday night. Burns did get into the game late well after it was in hand and only played 10 snaps in total of which one included him being flagged for pass interference in the end zone. Slot cornerback Mike Hilton was only needed for 19 defensive snaps Thursday night and Cameron Sutton filled in late to the tune of just 3 defensive snaps. Starter Joe Haden was removed after the game was in hand after logging 81% of all defensive snaps.
Safeties – Sean Davis played most of the snaps at free safety while rookie Terrell Edmunds (33) and veteran Morgan Burnett (38) swapped some snaps at the strong safety spot and were on the field together for some dime package. Backup safety Jordan Dangerfield was able to get on the field late for 4 snaps.
| PLAYER | POS | OFFENSIVE SNAPS | DEFENSIVE SNAPS | SPECIAL TEAM SNAPS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R.Foster | G | 58 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 8 | 26% |
| M.Feiler | T/G | 58 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 8 | 26% |
| A.Villanueva | T | 58 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 7 | 23% |
| A.Brown | WR | 51 | 88% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 3% |
| D.DeCastro | G | 50 | 86% | 0 | 0% | 8 | 26% |
| B.Roethlisberger | QB | 50 | 86% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| M.Pouncey | C | 48 | 83% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| J.Washington | WR | 46 | 79% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 3% |
| J.Smith-Schuster | WR | 42 | 72% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 3% |
| J.James | TE | 34 | 59% | 0 | 0% | 9 | 29% |
| V.McDonald | TE | 25 | 43% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 3% |
| J.Conner | RB | 24 | 41% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| J.Samuels | RB | 17 | 29% | 0 | 0% | 8 | 26% |
| X.Grimble | TE | 16 | 28% | 0 | 0% | 4 | 13% |
| D.Heyward-Bey | WR | 10 | 17% | 0 | 0% | 17 | 55% |
| B.Finney | C | 10 | 17% | 0 | 0% | 8 | 26% |
| S.Ridley | RB | 10 | 17% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| C.Okorafor | T | 9 | 16% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| R.Switzer | WR | 8 | 14% | 0 | 0% | 9 | 29% |
| J.Dobbs | QB | 8 | 14% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| R.Nix | FB | 6 | 10% | 0 | 0% | 19 | 61% |
| C.Sensabaugh | CB | 0 | 0% | 53 | 93% | 8 | 26% |
| B.Dupree | OLB | 0 | 0% | 49 | 86% | 3 | 10% |
| J.Bostic | ILB | 0 | 0% | 48 | 84% | 6 | 19% |
| J.Haden | CB | 0 | 0% | 46 | 81% | 6 | 19% |
| S.Davis | S | 0 | 0% | 46 | 81% | 4 | 13% |
| S.Tuitt | DE | 0 | 0% | 44 | 77% | 11 | 35% |
| C.Heyward | DT | 0 | 0% | 40 | 70% | 10 | 32% |
| V.Williams | ILB | 0 | 0% | 40 | 70% | 0 | 0% |
| M.Burnett | S | 0 | 0% | 38 | 67% | 2 | 6% |
| T.Watt | OLB | 0 | 0% | 38 | 67% | 2 | 6% |
| J.Hargrave | NT | 0 | 0% | 37 | 65% | 2 | 6% |
| T.Edmunds | S | 0 | 0% | 33 | 58% | 13 | 42% |
| A.Chickillo | OLB | 0 | 0% | 27 | 47% | 20 | 65% |
| M.Hilton | CB | 0 | 0% | 19 | 33% | 10 | 32% |
| T.Alualu | DE | 0 | 0% | 19 | 33% | 2 | 6% |
| L.Walton | DE | 0 | 0% | 13 | 23% | 1 | 3% |
| T.Matakevich | ILB | 0 | 0% | 11 | 19% | 20 | 65% |
| A.Burns | CB | 0 | 0% | 10 | 18% | 8 | 26% |
| L.Fort | ILB | 0 | 0% | 9 | 16% | 21 | 68% |
| J.Dangerfield | S | 0 | 0% | 4 | 7% | 19 | 61% |
| C.Sutton | CB | 0 | 0% | 3 | 5% | 14 | 45% |
| C.Boswell | K | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 17 | 55% |
| M.Thomas | ILB | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 13 | 42% |
| J.Berry | P | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 32% |
| K.Canaday | LS | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 32% |
