Throughout the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens’ rivalry, the two teams have been similarly built on a hard-nosed, physical identity — on both sides of the ball.
When one team lands a blow in the offseason from a roster addition standpoint, the other usually tries to counterpunch. That was again the case earlier in the week.
Just a few hours after the Baltimore Ravens landed future Hall of Fame running back Derrick Henry on a two-year deal, making their offense all that much more loaded around two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, the Steelers counterpunched in quick fashion, adding former Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen on a three-year, $41 million deal.
For longtime analyst and talking head Michael Smith, the move was a great one for the Steelers.
Appearing on the “Brother From Another” show on Peacock Wednesday, Smith stated that the Steelers really leaned into their identity with the signing of Queen and did so to help counter the Ravens’ addition of Henry.
“The Steelers are gonna need all the help they can get to stop King Henry, so they went and got a queen. They went and stole a queen from Baltimore in Patrick Queen,” Smith said. “I love that signing. Love that signing for the Pittsburgh Steelers, ’cause you talk about DNA, when you think Pittsburgh football, hey listen, they …had a lot of Hall of Famers in that organization. They’ve had Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Hall of Fame running backs, Hall of Fame offensive linemen, Hall of Fame defensive linemen, Hall of Famers in the secondary. That’s a linebacker franchise.”
Historically, the Steelers are a linebacker franchise. Smith is spot-on with that.
Names like Jack Lambert, Jack Ham, Andy Russell, James Farrior, James Harrison, Levon Kirkland, Greg Lloyd, T.J. Watt, Kevin Greene, et cetera et cetera. They are all there. The Steelers know how to find linebackers and get the best out of them.
In recent years though, the Steelers have had a glaring hole at the inside linebacker position, especially after Ryan Shazier’s tragic spinal injury that ended his career. The Steelers tried everything, signing veterans like Jon Bostic, Myles Jack and Cole Holcomb. All struggled with injuries. The Steelers even traded up for Devin Bush in the first round of the 2019 draft and traded for the likes of Joe Schobert and Avery Williamson to try and find an answer.
None were.
In steps Queen, who is coming off a second-team All-Pro season in Baltimore with a career-high 133 tackles, nine tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and an interception. He was outstanding in Baltimore’s defense and parlayed it into a big deal with the Steelers while staying in the AFC North.
The Steelers will need all the help they can get stopping Henry twice a year, but Queen will be a big part of that. Great bit of business on GM Omar Khan’s side of things. Steal a Queen to stop a King.
