Snap counts for games always tell the full story. On Sunday the Steelers had several players play the entire game, which is not outside the norm at all.

In this article we’ll break down who played how much, and comment on some surprises from the Steelers/Cowboys game.

Offense

Pittsburgh’s offense played a total of 74 snaps on Sunday. The entire offensive line played the full game, with the exception of David DeCastro being forced to leave the game for one play due to a medical reason.

Roethlisberger was also forced to leave the game for a single play for the same reason. He quickly returned after Landry Jones entered for that lone rep.

Le’Veon Bell also played every single snap against the Cowboys, while the only other running back to play was Fitzgerald Toussaint, who came in twice.

The receiver group saw the biggest change. Antonio Brown played all but two snaps (72) leaving the game briefly after a tough fall following a catch on the sidelines.

Cobi Hamilton played the next highest with 92% (68) of the offense’s snaps, followed by Eli Rogers (86%/64). Hamilton only had one catch, but it was a big one for 39 yards, while also drawing a 28-yard pass interference penalty which moved the Steelers into the redzone on the 7 yard line.

Rogers was once again a solid contributor, catching 4 passes for 42 yards, including a touchdown on the goal line.

Sunday’s biggest loser? Sammie Coates, who only played 2 snaps, one of which was a questionable no call on a deep pass with lots of contact. Sammie is still struggling to work back onto the field following his biggest game of the season against the Jets.

Ladarius Green was eased back in for his first action of the season, playing 12 snaps (16%) which appears to have eaten a little into Jesse James playing time (52/70%) and mostly Xavier Grimble (11/15%). David Johnson played 10/14% while Roosevelt Nix was only on the field twice during offensive possessions.

What’s next?

Markus Wheaton has been injured and not able to contribute, which would likely eat into Cobi Hamilton’s playing time (if not his roster spot entirely). However, if Wheaton cannot get on the field for next Sunday’s game against Cleveland, it’s doubtful we’ll see him the rest of November, as the Indianapolis game is on a short week (Thursday night).

We may also see Grimble’s snaps slow to single digits as Green gets back into playing shape. Green could also overtake Jesse James as the leading tight end before the month closes.

Otherwise, nothing else should change dramatically going forward.

Defense

The defense played a combined 65 snaps, with four players having never left the field Sunday: Stephon Tuitt, Ryan Shazier, Mike Mitchell and Lawrence Timmons played 100% of the game.

The more intriguing number is Timmons, who was constantly moved on and off the field in prior games to add an extra DB. Both inside linebackers remaining in the game is even more interesting in that the Steelers cycled in a fifth linebacker to try and contain the run. That explains the 6 reps Vince Williams received with the typical outside linebacker rotation staying even between Anthony Chickillo and Jarvis Jones (37 snaps, 57%) and their substitutes, Arthur Moats and James Harrison (28/43%).

Cameron Heyward played 61 snaps (94%) while the other defensive linemen logged some extra time. Javon Hargrave played 21 snaps (32%) while Daniel McCuller had a small uptick to 13 snaps, and Ricardo Mathews added 4 snaps as well.

As for the secondary, Ross Cockrell (57/88%) and Artie Burns (56/86%) lead with the most time. Sean Davis was next with 43 snaps (66%) with William Gay (35/54%) and Robert Golden (29/45%) rounding out the numbers.

What’s next?

The Steelers made an effort to play their inexperienced players the most. William Gay may still be hampered by a knee injury, but still played in over half of the team’s snaps, despite Artie Burns having his hands full with Dez Bryan (6 catches, 116 yards, 1 TD). Davis also committed the heartbreaking facemask penalty at the end of the game, which setup Dallas for the win.

You live by the sword, you die by the sword… as they say. Gay and Golden saw less time, with Davis positioned to play the slot, and even the outside, at times. It may be Davis’ versatility that the Steelers are trying to toy with giving opposing quarterbacks different looks, but the defensive performance on Sunday showed that having 2 DBs log over half of the time, along with a first-year defensive tackle (Hargrave) getting 1/3 of the reps, certainly showed inexperience, or even an incapable effort by the younger defenders.

Going forward, I believe Burns’ playing time will remain unaffected, as Justin Gilbert hasn’t proven to gain any playing time, be healthy, or be activated for most of the season. He’s a dark horse in the future of the Steelers defense, but could be shelved for the remainder of the year. There’s no one else who could be a candidate to take Burns’ spot, other than shifting William Gay to the outside in the traditional 3-4 packages.

Davis, on the other hand, could lose some time to Golden; however, Golden also missed a would-be tackle on the Ezekiel Elliott touchdown reception early in the game. Jordan Dangerfield was ruled out for this game, and had played well when given the opportunity. Future playing time could be a mixed bag with those 3 safeties until Keith Butler finds the right combination.

As for the linebackers, Shazier and Timmons are entrenched in their positions while the outside rotation appears to favor resting 38-year-old James Harrison; not necessarily a bad thing, as Anthony Chickillo has stepped up in Bud Dupree‘s absence, while Jarvis Jones has had a quiet seasons statistically, but has been a formidable contributor showing improvement as well.

It will be interesting to see who Dupree replaces once he’s added to the main roster, which could happen by Sunday’s game against Cleveland. My guess is that Dupree will see snaps at the expense of Arthur Moats, as Chickillo has quietly become the surprise player of the group.