Our final Pittsburgh Steelers’ defensive charting breakdown to recap the team’s 2024 season. This data comes from the weekly charting we personally do and have done for more than a decade. If you have questions unanswered by our data below, leave them in the comments, and we’ll attempt to answer them.
These numbers are out of 1,041 regular-season non-penalty plays.
– Sticking with the total plays, here’s how they stack up with past seasons.
2024: 1,041 snaps (61.2 per game)
2023: 1,136 snaps (66.8 per game)
2022: 1,012 snaps (59.5 per game)
2021: 1,108 snaps (65.2 per game)
2020: 992 snaps (62 per game)
2019: 1,067 snaps (66.7 per game)
2018: 1,021 snaps (63.8 per game)
2017: 979 snaps (61.2 per game)
2016: 1,040 snaps (65.0 per game)
2015: 1,102 snaps (68.9 per game)
-They came in slightly ahead of the mid-season projected pace, but it’s a reduction from last year. This is somewhat surprising, given how much they were on the field towards the end of the year against the Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals.
– Big picture, here’s how the groupings are broken down.
Nickel: 58.2-percent (606 snaps)
Base: 25.6-percent (266 snaps)
Dime: 12.0-percent (125 snaps)
4-4: 2.3-percent (24 snaps)
Goal Line: 0.8-percent (8 snaps)
2-5: 0.6-percent (6 snaps)
3-5: 0.5-percent (5 snaps)
3-3-5: 0.1-percent (1 snap)
Significant changes compared to last year. Nickel is up from 37.1-percent in 2023, while base is down from 34.6-percent a season ago. Dime is also down, a 10-percent reduction compared to 2023. Much more of a nickel outfit this year.
– Here are the specific personnel groupings.
Base Nickel: 551 snaps
Base 3-4: 217 snaps
Dime: 100 snaps
Big Nickel: 42 snaps
3-4 Nickel: 30 snaps
1-4-6: 25 snaps
4-4: 22 snaps
3-4 Big: 13 snaps
1-5-5: 12 snaps
Goal Line: 8 snaps
2-5 Nickel: 6 snaps
3-4 Over: 6 snaps
3-5: 3 snaps
3-5 Big: 2 snaps
4-4 Big: 2 snaps
Nickel (10 Men): 1 snap
3-3-5 Over: 1 snap
The “big” designations mean the team had three safeties in the game.
– Overall, here are the sub and base breakdowns. Only 3-4, nickel, and dime are included.
Sub-package: 73.3-percent (731 snaps)
3-4: 26.7-percent (266 snaps)
And here are the year-by-year rates since 2015:
2023:
Sub-package: 59.4 percent
Base: 40.3 percent
2022:
Sub: 68.2 percent
Base: 31.8 percent
2021:
Sub: 64.4 percent
Base: 35.6 percent
2020:
Sub: 60.1 percent
Base: 39.9 percent
2019:
Sub: 68.5 percent
Base: 31.3 percent
2018:
Sub: 68.4 percent
Base: 31 percent
2017:
Sub: 61.1 percent
Base: 38.8 percent
2016:
Sub: 70.5 percent
Base: 28.7 percent
2015:
Sub: 71.3 percent
Base: 27.4 percent
Pittsburgh’s 73.3 percent is the highest in a single season since we’ve been tracking it, beating 2015’s mark of 71.3 percent. This is a big shift from last season, when the Steelers were in sub the least since our tracking, 59.4 percent of the time. It marks a 13.9 percent jump from 2023 to 2024.
Pittsburgh’s 2024 blitz rate? It came in at 29.0-percent. This is a sizeable increase from early in the season (22.2 percent mid-way through) but still lower than last year’s 31.2 percent. Here are the yearly figures since 2014:
2014: 28 percent
2015: 33.3 percent
2016: 39.7 percent
2017: 33.2 percent
2018: 44.1 percent
2019: 33.5 percent
2020: 35.6 percent
2021: 26.1 percent
2022: 27.9 percent
2023: 31.2 percent
2024: 29.0 percent
Fourth-lowest mark we’ve tracked.
The rate of sending five or more rushers this year was 26.5 percent. That’s also down from last year’s 30 percent. Here are the yearly numbers.
2015: 33.6 percent
2016: 27.7 percent
2017: 19.5 percent
2018: 36.0 percent
2019: 34.3 percent
2020: 38.9 percent
2021: 22.7 percent
2022: 28.2 percent
2023: 30.0 percent
2024: 26.5 percent
Third-fewest since 2015.
– Here’s the breakdown by positional group:
Defensive Line
Pressures
Cam Heyward: 35
Keeanu Benton: 17
Larry Ogunjobi: 11
Dean Lowry: 6
Isaiahh Loudermilk: 4
Montravius Adams: 3
DeMarvin Leal: 2
Snaps per pressure. The lower the number, the better.
Dean Lowry: 10.7
Cam Heyward: 12.9
DeMarvin Leal: 13.5
Keeanu Benton: 20.3
Larry Ogunjobi: 26.1
Isaiahh Loudermilk: 27.0
Montravius Adams: 36.7
– Lowry leads the way but had a smaller sample size (64 pass rushes). Heyward’s number is excellent, though it’s a little worse than our mid-season check-in (10.2). Benton’s number also regressed down the stretch, 16.0 mid-way through the year, which is worse than his rookie season number of 15.3. He finished the year with just one sack coming in the Week 18 finale.
– Ogunjobi’s number is poor, and his pass-rush role shrank. Last year, he sat at 27.4. This year, it’s 26.1. Ogunjobi had just three pressures post-bye, an average of one pressure every 40 snaps.
– Yards per carry allowed when each main d-lineman was on the field. This is a broad view that doesn’t capture everything but another data point.
Cam Heyward: 3.9 YPC
Montravius Adams: 3.9 YPC
Isaiahh Loudermilk: 4.0 YPC
Keeanu Benton: 4.1 YPC
Larry Ogunjobi: 4.1 YPC
Dean Lowry: 4.5 YPC
Linebackers
Pressures
Alex Highsmith: 42
T.J. Watt: 41
Nick Herbig: 25
Patrick Queen: 11
Elandon Roberts: 10
Preston Smith: 8
Payton Wilson: 5
Jeremiah Moon: 2
Snaps per pressure. Just focusing on the EDGE players.
Alex Highsmith: 6.9
Nick Herbig: 8.2
Preston Smith: 10.6
T.J. Watt: 13.1
Jeremiah Moon: 30.0
– Excellent numbers for Highsmith and Herbig. Watt’s are good but disappointing in terms of where he’s been in the past. Last year, Watt had 64 total pressures and one every 8.1 rushes. So, there is a considerable downgrade here.
Drop/coverage rates for the five outside linebackers:
T.J. Watt: 4.8-percent
Jeremiah Moon: 6.3-percent
Alex Highsmith: 8.3-percent
Preston Smith: 8.6-percent
Nick Herbig: 14.3-percent
Watt and Highsmith’s numbers dropped compared to 2023. Last year, they were 8.5 and 12.7-percent, respectively. Herbig’s rate fell, too, down from 22.5-percent as a rookie. Still, he led the unit in coverage rate.
– Linebackers when targeted in the passing game.
Preston Smith: 1/1 1 yard 0 TDs 0 INTs
Nick Herbig: 2/2 9 yards 0 TDs 0 INTs
Alex Highsmith: 2/5 13 yards 0 TDs 0 INTs
T.J. Watt: 3/5 16 yards 0 TDs 0 INTs
Elandon Roberts: 4/6 43 yards 0 TDs 0 INTs
Payton Wilson: 18/26 120 yards 0 TDs 1 INT
Patrick Queen: 27/34 213 yards 1 TD 1 INT
– QB rating against. Just listing the ones with at least five targets.
Alex Highsmith: 47.9
Payton Wilson: 63.0
T.J. Watt: 65.4
Elandon Roberts: 87.5
Patrick Queen: 90.3
– In true 3-4 snaps versus nickel, Elandon Roberts played 97.7-percent of the Steelers’ 3-4 snaps and 26.4-percent of their nickel snaps. Payton Wilson played just 2.3-percent of the team’s base snaps and 73.6-percent of the team’s nickel snaps.
– Wilson blitzed 40 times. Queen blitzed 83, an average of 4.9 times per game.
Secondary
– Numbers when targeted:
Damontae Kazee: 3/6 76 yards 1 TD 1 INT
Cam Sutton: 4/14 21 yards 2 TDs 0 INTs
James Pierre: 9/17 116 yards 2 TDs 1 INT
Cory Trice Jr.: 12/17 110 yards 1 TD 2 INTs
Minkah Fitzpatrick: 23/30 317 yards 3 TDs 1 INT
Beanie Bishop Jr.: 28/43 314 yards 1 TD 3 INTs
DeShon Elliott: 33/50 293 yards 3 TDs 1 INT
Donte Jackson: 25/51 382 yards 3 TDs 4 INTs
Joey Porter Jr.: 40/60 467 yards 0 TDs 1 INT
– QB rating against:
Donte Jackson: 61.1
Beanie Bishop Jr.: 65.5
Cory Trice Jr.: 67.9
Cam Sutton: 79.2
Joey Porter Jr.: 83.1
James Pierre: 89.3
DeShon Elliott: 93.2
Damontae Kazee: 95.8
Minkah Fitzpatrick: 129.4
– Some notes here. First, the reason for some statistical discrepancy to what you see on the box score. Trice has two picks because I counted his two-point conversion interception against the Chiefs. Bishop has three INTs and Queen one because I am crediting Queen for the target/coverage against the Bengals in Week 18. Jackson only has four INTs because Cam Heyward is credited for one of his picks in Week 13.
We chart so we can examine the actual play and not just the result, which occasionally results in someone who didn’t actually intercept the pass getting credit for it (think about a DB targeted who makes a great diving play to knock the ball away only for a teammate to intercept it on the tip; the first DB should be credited).
– Overall, Jackson’s numbers look good. But post-bye, he gave up a QB rating of 104.4 (10/17, 156 yards, 3 TDs 1 INT). There was a big fall-off down the stretch as he also missed more time with injuries.
– Sutton’s numbers are better than his actual play, and he was fortunate that several passes weren’t completed against him.
– Porter had too many penalties, but I have him allowing just one touchdown in two years. Perhaps some of those penalties prevented scores but still, that’s impressive.
– Minkah Fitzpatrick’s yearly QB rating against:
2019: 53.7
2020: 19.2
2021: 55.7
2022: 52.5
2023: 83.6
2024: 129.4
It’s easily Fitzpatrick’s worst showing, as his numbers have noticeably climbed over the last two years.
– Bishop blitzed 11 times. Sutton was sent 17, himself generating pressure just once.
– Including dime packages, Fitzpatrick was in the box 7.5-percent of the time. That number rose late in the year, 69 of them coming Week 11 or later and 51 snaps, two-thirds of the total, coming over the final four regular season games. Pittsburgh tried some different run-stopping fronts.
