Surprise snap counts highlight Steelers rollercoast Sunday in San Francisco
There were a few out-of-the-ordinary occurrences for the Pittsburgh Steelers in their 24-20 loss last Sunday at San Francisco.
First, Donte Moncrief was benched entirely, inactive for the game. This is likely due to a lingering dislocated finger issue from training camp that went mostly unreported. Moncrief acknowledged the problem after another dropped pass (tipped this time) was picked off in the Seattle game a week earlier.
LB Vince Williams was also ruled out with a hamstring injury, while TE Vance McDonald left the game early with a shoulder injury.
But aside from those obvious omissions, another Steelers stalwart over the last season and throughout the beginning of 2019 was absent from the offense: WR Ryan Switzer. Switzer logged snaps on special teams, but failed to enter the game for the offense at any point on Sunday.
Another player who was absent from the offense did play on Sunday.
Jaylen Samuels was in for a quarter of the game, but didn’t register a touch on the ball whatsoever. (Unless you include the above-pictured toss-sweep to WR Johnny Holton.)
It should be noted that James Washington only left the field for four plays, while Diontae Johnson also logged a career-high 42 snaps in Sunday’s loss.
One more notable on offense was TE Zach Gentry, who saw his first action of the season.
On defense newly acquired Minkah Fitzpatrick would play the entire game; something that’s not unusual for Steelers safeties, but somewhat obscure considering he had less than a handful of practices to become acclimated with his new team.
The casualty for playing time was Kameron Kelly, who received a start at safety in Week 1 while subbing in for an injured Sean Davis midway through Week 2’s game against the Seahawks.
If you blinked and missed Artie Burns enter the game for a single snap, you’re not alone. Burns, a former first round pick, has registered only two total snaps in three games with the Steelers this season.
The remaining playing time totals are noted below, with total snaps and percentages.
Steelers Offense
| Player | Snaps | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Conner | 36 | 68% |
| DeCastro | 53 | 100% |
| Feiler | 53 | 100% |
| Foster | 53 | 100% |
| Gentry | 10 | 19% |
| Grimble | 38 | 72% |
| Holton | 5 | 9% |
| Johnson | 42 | 79% |
| McDonald | 15 | 28% |
| Pouncey | 53 | 100% |
| Rudolph | 53 | 100% |
| Samuels | 14 | 26% |
| Smith-Schuster | 53 | 100% |
| Snell | 3 | 6% |
| Villanueva | 53 | 100% |
| Washington | 49 | 92% |
Steelers Defense
| Player | Snaps | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Adeniyi | 11 | 14% |
| Alualu | 35 | 44% |
| Barron | 79 | 100% |
| Burns | 1 | 1% |
| Bush | 79 | 100% |
| Dupree | 75 | 95% |
| Edmunds | 79 | 100% |
| Fitzpatrick | 79 | 100% |
| Haden | 78 | 99% |
| Hargrave | 46 | 58% |
| Heyward | 56 | 71% |
| Hilton | 17 | 22% |
| McCullers | 20 | 25% |
| Nelson | 79 | 100% |
| Sutton | 11 | 14% |
| Tuitt | 52 | 66% |
| Watt | 72 | 91% |
