Players work very hard to make sure they can produce for their teams on Sunday. For a player like Patrick Queen, he probably envisioned a more splashy debut for his first game in the black and gold.
The Steelers just made him their highest-paid external free agent in team history this offseason, and he came to Pittsburgh with a massive chip on his shoulder after the Baltimore Ravens declined his fifth-year option and let him walk in free agency.
He played 100 percent of the Steelers’ snaps against the Atlanta Falcons, but only registered two total tackles in the game. A lot of that had to do with the performance of the defensive line.
“Yeah, they took over,” Queen said of the D-line after Thursday’s practice in a video posted by Steelers Live on X. “I’m sitting there talking after the game, like bro I had four tackle attempts and it’s kind of boring. So, I missed two tackles that I wish I could have back, but you got a D-line like that, it’s kind of hard to make plays. But as long as they making plays, I think we’re all happy.”
At least the traditional way that things work is a good defensive line in a 3-4 system frees up the inside linebackers to make plays. But in Week 1, they were so good that there were less plays to make.
Elandon Roberts was only on the field for two snaps and had zero tackles, while Payton Wilson played 24 snaps and had three total tackles. Seven tackles for the inside linebackers is quite low production, but it obviously came in a dominant, winning effort by the defense.
The Steelers’ D-line has been receiving plenty of praise since the Week 1 performance. T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward were at or near the top of their positions in Pro Football Focus grades. The group as a whole was ranked the No. 1 group by PFF as well. They combined for 23 tackles, two sacks, seven QB hits, and 13 total pressures. There were also two more sacks and forced fumbles wiped out by penalty.
Our Josh Carney highlighted Patrick Queen’s missed tackles in his weekly report. Queen also popped up on Thursday’s injury report and did not practice due to a groin injury. We will see how that progresses on Friday, otherwise he may have to wait for his potential breakout game in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Chargers in the Steelers’ home opener.
