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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.