After giving up 30 points in back to back games to open the 2025 season, the Steelers looked like a team that needed to make some changes, especially on defense.

And during Week 3’s 21-14 win over the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh mixed up its defensive personnel.

Using PFF’s snap counts from Sunday, it’s clear there were some promotions and demotions versus New England:

After playing 86% of defensive snaps against the Seahawks last week, linebacker Payton Wilson played just 47% against New England. As a result, it was the veteran Cole Holcomb who saw more snaps opposite starter Patrick Queen, rising from 20% of defensive snaps last week to 50% on Sunday.

There was another big change at safety. Juan Thornhill played 100% of the Steelers’ defensive snaps last week, but his usage drop

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