The goal of every team is to keep their offense on the field and their defense off of it. Do those two things and you’re winning a lot of games. Though Pittsburgh’s off to a 4-2 start and has the AFC North lead, it won’t be sustainable if their snap counts don’t switch. Six games in, the offense is hardly out there while the defense is wilting under the weight of their snap counts.
Entering Monday night, here’s how Pittsburgh stacks up in offensive and defensive plays with stats courtesy of Team Rankings.Â
Offensive Plays: 54.4 (30th)
Defensive Plays: 69.3 (32nd)
Bottom-third on offense, dead last on defense.
The offense has more rationale. Pittsburgh’s hit a handful of quick-hitting touchdowns that takes away long drives that rack up the plays and time of possession. DK Metcalf’s 80-yard touchdown. Pat Freiermuth’s 68-yard score. Still, there’s more that could be done. Aaron Rodgers’ first interception against the Cincinnati Bengals came on the first play of the drive, ending it just as it was starting and immediately forcing the defense out on the field.
The third-down offense has also had its problems throughout the season, ranking in the 20’s over the first several weeks. The good news is that number has rocketed the last three games, and entering Monday night, the Steelers are eighth on third-down conversions.
That leaves plenty of blame for the defense. Pittsburgh’s is a unit struggling to get off the field. Unlike the offense, the third-down defense hasn’t improved. It ranks just 25th entering last night’s doubleheader. On third and long (7-plus yards), the Steelers are tied for 23rd.
No matter the reason, the negative effects are obvious. This is one of the NFL’s oldest defenses, and it can’t sustain this number of snaps. Pittsburgh’s on pace to play 1,178 plays this regular season. Per our charting, that would be more than the defense has logged in any season since we began tracking in 2015. Even knowing the 17-game season has only been around since 2021, that 69.3 snap average would also be the highest figure.
Compared to the rest of the NFL, it’s also one of the worst figures. Since 2016, here’s the top-five of most plays per game against, including the 2025 data.
Most Plays Per Game Allowed (2016-2025)
1. 2021 Seahawks: 70.6
2. 2018 Browns: 70.1
3. 2020 Seahawks: 69.6
4. 2018 Chiefs: 69.8
5. 2025 Steelers: 69.3
Odds are, Pittsburgh’s number will come down. But it just can’t shrink by a marginal amount. There needs to be marked improvement on this figure. The Steelers have been out-snapped in every game this season. The team would love for this streak to end against the Packers.
