For the first time that I am aware of in the recent history of the Pittsburgh Steelers—certainly at least since before the Dick LeBeau era—the defense fielded primarily its nickel sub-package as its base defense. But if we go back two years ago, the Steelers actually turned to their quarters package frequently due to the loss of Larry Foote to get an extra safety on the field instead of rely on a rookie at that spot.
So in two of the past three seasons, the Steelers have relied proportionally more on sub-packages than they have traditionally done, or wanted to do, with a dramatic shift coming in 2015, during which they spent nearly three quarters of the time in the nickel defense with three cornerbacks on the field and no nose tackle.