Pittsburgh Steelers playtime snap totals vs. the New England Patriots

The Pittsburgh Steelers were unable to stop or slow down the New England Patriots on Thursday night, and the personnel the team deployed was called into question on more than one occasion. The players the team uses in any specific situation will certainly tell not only about the team's plan heading into a game, but also their thoughts on a particular player's ability.

Take a look at the Steelers' playtime snap totals and percentages vs. the Patriots in Week 1.

Offense

11 v. 11 Special teams

Ramon Foster G                73 100%                       5 19%
Marcus Gilbert T                73 100%                       5 19%
David DeCastro G             73 100%                       5 19%
Kelvin Beachum T             73 100%                       5 19%
Cody Wallace C                 73 100%
Ben Roethlisberger QB    73 100%
Heath Miller TE                  73 100%
Antonio Brown WR             68 93%                        5 19%
Markus Wheaton WR         66 90%
DeAngelo Williams RB      61 84%
Darrius Heyward-Bey WR 43 59%                        8 31%
Marr Spaeth TE                    24 33%                      13 50%
Will Johnson FB                   10 14%                        7 27%
Tyler Murphy WR                                                       7 10%
Rooselvelt Nix FB                    5 7%                         8 31%
Alejandro Villanueva T           5 7%                         5 19%
Dri Archer RB                           3 4%                         5 19%

Defense

11 v. 11 Special Teams

Lawrence Timmons LB         61 100%                      4 15%
Ryan Shazier LB                    58 95%                      11 42%
Antwon Blake CB                   56 92%                        7 27%
Will Allen FS                            56 92%                        5 19%
William Gay CB                       56 92%                        4 15%
Stephon Tuitt DE                     54 89%                        6 23%
Cameron Heyward DE           52 85%                        9 35%
Mike Mitchell FS                       49 80%                       4 15%
James Harrison LB                  38 62%                       4 15%
Cortez Allen CB                        32 52%
Bud Dupree LB                          26 43%                      5 19%
Robert Golden FS                     24 39%                     18 69%
Jarvis Jones LB                         24 39%                       9 35%
Steve McLendon NT                 24 39%                       4 15%
Arthur Moats LB                         20 33%                       5 19%
Daniel McCullers NT                 13 21%                       2 8%
Cam Thomas DE                        12 20%                       2 8%
Terence Garvin LB                       5 8%                        17 65%
Vince Williams LB                        5 8%                         16 62%
Shamarko Thomas SS                4 7%                         17 65%
Ross Ventrone S                                                             17 65%
Josh Scobee K                                                                10 38%
Sean Spence LB                                                             10 38%
Brandon Boykin CB                                                         9 35%
Greg Warren LS                                                                7 27%
Jordan Berry P                                                                  7 27%
Jordan Todman RB                                                          6 23%

There are some surprises when looking at these numbers. On offense, there weren't many surprises, but Dri Archer's 3 snaps out of 11 situations makes you wonder what the team's plans for him might be. The Steelers are using a roster spot on a player who's turning into a special teams specialist in a game that essentially has eliminated kickoff returns from the offensive repertoire, and they don't use Archer on punt returns.

On the defensive side of the ball, there were quite some decisions made by the coaching staff. Brandon Boykin's zero defensive snaps and nine special teams snaps tops the charts, but Bud Dupree playing more snaps than Arthur Moats is something that most didn't see coming. James Harrison playing more snaps than Jarvis Jones shouldn't come as a shock to many, but the team's usage of Shamarko Thomas should. The team was using a lot of three-safety looks in the game on Thursday night and chose Robert Golden over Thomas as the third safety. For a player slated to be the starting safety alongside Mike Mitchell, it has been a steep fall from grace.

Look for a lot of the playtime snap counts and percentages to change as the team prepares for the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday.