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Injuries have decimated the Pittsburgh Steelers defense this season. This has proven especially problematic for the Pittsburgh linebackers as only one of the four Week One starters were on the field Monday for the Steelers. But overall the depth of this team on defense isn’t great and the snap counts from Monday’s game really show it.
Here are the snap counts. The Steelers played 56 defensive snaps on Monday.
LB Marcus Allen-100%
CB Joe Haden-100%
CB Steven Nelson-100%
FS Minkah Fitzpatrick-100%
LB Alex Highsmith-95%
LB T.J. Watt-95%
LB Avery Williamson-91%
DT Cam Heyward-89%
DE Stephon Tuitt-88%
SS Terrell Edmunds-79%
DT Tyson Alualu-54%
CB Mike Hilton-50%
CB Cam Sutton-38%
LB Ola Adeniyi-11%
DL Chris Wormley-5%
DT Carlos Davis-4%
DE Henry Mondeaux-2%
A few things stand out here. First, depth at linebacker doesn’t exist. Seeing guys like Highsmith, Williamson and Allen playing such high reps just gives you an idea of how thin this group has been stretched. Get well soon, Vince Williams.
Also, the dramatic dropoff from the top 10 guys is remarkable. It really illustrates how unimaginative the Steelers were on defense Monday night and how little they played sub-package defense. Seeing Hilton, arguably the team’s second-best defensive back with only 28 defensive snaps is brutal because he’s an exceptional run defender.
Let us know in the comments what are your takeaways from the Steelers snap counts from Monday night’s loss.
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