Even before Sunday night’s postgame press conference in which Mike Tomlin seemed open to making any and all changes to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ secondary, the team shook up its snap count at cornerback. Though the results weren’t any better against Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers, Darius Slay saw his first real reduction in snaps on the season.
Per our charting, Slay played just 32 of 64 defensive snaps—exactly 50 percent. This is a stark contrast to how he was used in the first six games, taking the field for virtually every rep he was healthy for (it was routine for him to miss a few snaps per game with a minor injury).
Pittsburgh changed that up for Green Bay. Slay’s largest reduction in snaps came when the Steelers used their base and heavy packages. Of Pittsburgh’s 22 snaps in its 3-4 or heavy 4-4 personnel grouping, Slay did not log a single snap. Instead, Jalen Ramsey remained at cornerback instead of shuffling back to safety like he had in the first six games. Here’s how that grouping changed.
Original Base Group (With Slay)
CB: Darius Slay
CB: Joey Porter Jr.
FS: Jalen Ramsey
SS: DeShon Elliott
New Base Group (Without Slay)
CB: Jalen Ramsey
CB Joey Porter Jr.
FS: Chuck Clark
SS: DeShon Elliott
After Elliott went down with a severe knee injury, Jabrill Peppers and Chuck Clark served as the base/big safeties.
But Slay lost snaps in passing packages, too. Of the team’s 38 nickel reps, Slay missed ten of them. Three in the first half and seven in the final 30 minutes, sidelined for the entirety of the fifth and eighth drives. Brandin Echols relieved him on every snap.
In theory, it could’ve been injury-related. But there was no mid-game injury report of Slay being injured or examined by trainers, and Tomlin made no reference to him post-game. Slay finished the game and spoke to the media afterward. Assuming it wasn’t injury-related, the Steelers may have opted to give Echols a drive to see if he could play better. Echols took his lumps like everyone else, the man in coverage on WR Christian Watson’s 33-yard catch (Juan Thornhill’s poor angle/tracking didn’t help, either), but the relevant point is Slay is losing traction in the lineup.
Not that it’s a bad thing. Slay has looked every bit his age the past two games. At 34 years old, he’s struggling to keep up with the speed of the receivers he’s facing. And his veteran savvy isn’t gaining an edge anymore. Tackling has also been a problem. His effort could be stronger with questionable goal-line finishes on Tee Higgins and Savion Williams’ touchdowns the past two weeks. For a defense struggling, every player needs to compensate with maximum effort. These plays don’t show it.
Losing Elliott for weeks, if not the entire season, some may wonder if Pittsburgh pulls a Patrick Peterson and shifts Slay to safety. That’s possible and would hide his lack of speed, but Slay’s inconsistent tackling makes him a dubious last line of defense. The Steelers aren’t quite as desperate as they were with Peterson, a year where Pittsburgh literally ran out of healthy/non-suspended safeties.
Facing the Indianapolis Colts’ high-powered running game and offense Sunday, Slay’s role isn’t likely to expand. Echols may receive an even larger look as Pittsburgh spins the wheel more to find something that fits. And Slay’s time in Pittsburgh and the NFL seems to be running out in a hurry, ending with a whimper after winning a Super Bowl with Philadelphia in 2024.
