From all accounts, you’d think Chris Boswell played every snap (he didn’t!)

I’m being facetious, but Boswell’s 18 points were the only Steelers scores on Sunday. Yet, Chris isn’t the only guy out there, and Pittsburgh had to put him in a position to kick those field goals.

How the Steelers did that was, more or less, the same as they had in previous games during their 9-game win streak.

Offense

The offensive line played all of the offense’s 67 snaps, as you’d expect, barring injury.

Also expected, Ben Roethlisberger played every down, and Antonio Brown did as well.

Le’Veon Bell sat for the final three snaps (replaced by DeAngelo Williams in the victory formation).

The wide receiver rotation was a little more lopsided in this game, with Eli Rogers receiving 85% of the reps (57 snaps). Darrius Heyward-Bey started the game and ended with 20 snaps (30%). Cobb Hamilton edged DHB by 7 snaps (27/40%) while Demarcus Ayers received a 12/18% share, and Sammie Coates entered for a single play.

Jesse James was on the field for 59 plays, the most aside from the Killer B’s and offensive line. The remaining blockers saw a small mix, as Roosevelt Nix didn’t enter until late in the second quarter (10/15%) with David Johnson receiving the same amount of playing time.

Chris Hubbard played 3 plays and Xavier Grimble got in for 2.

The numbers may surprise as Le’Veon Bell “reset” his postseason Steelers rushing record with 170 yards on the ground. Pittsburgh was content with running from spread and shotgun formations, likely in an attempt to keep Kansas City on their heels. The jumbo package appeared a few times, but less than usual.

The clear winners were James and Rogers, who continue to step up when called upon.

Defense

A number of defenders played the entire game: Stephon Tuitt, Ryan Shazier, Bud Dupree, Lawrence Timmons and Ross Cockrell. Two additional players only left for one of the Steelers 58 defensive snaps (Artie Burns and Sean Davis) while Mike Mitchell left for two plays.

“Father Time” James Harrison continues to plug along, leaving for the spell we saw on TV (only missing 3 snaps). He was once again replaced by Jarvis Jones. Once inactive weeks ago, it appears that either through increased confidence from the coaching staff, or due to injuries (such as Anthony Chickillo, who was inactive) Jones still has a role with the defense.

Of the other defensive linemen, Javon Hargrave followed Tuitt next in playing time (50/86%) with Letterius Walton adding 23 snaps (40%) and Daniel McCullers filling in for 4 plays.

In the secondary, William Gay saw a typical 2/3 split (39 snaps/67%) of playing time, with the Steelers using their nickel package.

Jordan Dangerfield also saw a little bit of playing time (4 snaps/7%) subbing for Davis on the snap he had to come out of the game (by rule, due to injury timeout on the field) plus in goal line packages (such as the 2 point conversion attempt by Kansas City).

The numbers have been similar for sometime, with Pittsburgh finally finding a groove, and eliminating the various rotation schemes they used earlier in the season. It also helps that linebackers such as Bud Dupree and Ryan Shazier have been healthy during the 9-game run.

There’s little reason to think that anything will change against New England next week, with the playmakers firmly entrenched in their positions.