For the last three or four years, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been carried by their defense. The 2024 team is no different, though the offense is starting to show signs of pulling its own weight. That is good news for the trajectory of the team overall, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that the defense is one of the best in the league. Patrick Queen is thrilled to be a part of such a good unit.
“It’s incredible. It’s electric and that’s what you dream of. Like whatever position you in, you wanna be on that side where they dominate and take control,” Queen said in a video posted by Yardbarker’s Aaron Becker on X. “It’s crazy, like, we all just sitting there talking like it’s still more that’s out there for us to take over and stuff. So that’s been the big focus for this week, is just capitalize on opportunities that we’ve missed on.”
That is the mindset that great players and defenses always need to be in. It is okay to pat yourself on the back for a job well done from time to time, but that can’t be the main message. This is why you hear players like T.J. Watt pointing to the errors or the things the defense could have done better after a dominant performance. There is always something to improve on, and that certainly rings true for this defense.
Even as a top defense in the league, there is still meat left on the bone. They can be better with more communication, more attention to detail, better tackling, and finishing the plays that are available to be made. The Indianapolis Colts game was a great example of that. Joey Porter Jr. could have had two interceptions, and Queen could have had a fumble recovery that would have changed the course of the game dramatically.
“There’s just so many more plays out there that we can create and that we let up and we know that,” Queen reiterated in another clip from Becker on X. “That’s why we’re so aggravated walking around here right now, just knowing that we need to get better. I think it’s going to get better.”
Patrick Queen described how they are constantly preaching to hunt the ball. That is how you get Watt with two forced fumbles in Week 6 and Beanie Bishop Jr. with two interceptions in Week 7.
The Steelers have the highest-paid defense in the league. For them to achieve their goal of winning a Super Bowl, they can’t settle for being the second-, third-, or fourth-best defense in the league. They have the talent to be No. 1 in every category, and they won’t settle until they achieve that.
They are tied for third in the league with 13 takeaways. They are the No. 2 ranked scoring defense with 14.4 points allowed per game. They are the No. 3-ranked rushing defense with 81.0 rushing yards allowed per game, and the No. 22 passing defense with 217.3 allowed per game. That means there is still room to grow, and that is what the defense is focused on for now.
