Going into Week 7, it seemed like the Pittsburgh Steelers would have a tough task defending against Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets. Once the game began, there was probably a lot of worry in Pittsburgh that would become a reality. The Jets weren’t making amazing plays, but the Steelers were having a tough time tackling anyone. Patrick Queen owned up to a lot of his own struggles in that department.
“I could say for my teammates, not for myself,” Queen said after the Steelers’ 37-15 win over the Jets via the team’s website when asked if the team’s tackling got better in the second half. “It definitely did for them. I missed two tackles in the second half that I can’t have on tape. I can’t have that for my teammates because they extend drives. But as a whole, yes.”
That’s a fair assessment from Queen. During the first half, the Steelers allowed the Jets to score two touchdowns, with those drives being ugly for the defense. It felt like they thought tackling was optional. Specifically, Jets running back Breece Hall embarrassed the defense on a few plays.
However, much of that disappeared after halftime. The Steelers held the Jets to zero points in the second half, forcing a big turnover and blocking a field goal. Their effort was much better, but it sounds like Queen isn’t letting himself off the hook.
“The tackling, we all know that we gotta get better,” he said. “I gotta get better specifically.”
Based only on a first viewing, this did not look like Queen’s best game as a Steeler. He wasn’t terrible, but he wasn’t at the All-Pro level that he probably holds himself to. He wasn’t the only one missing tackles though. At the end of the day, the Steelers’ defense tightened up and stopped the Jets, despite Queen’s tackling issues.
Queen hasn’t had the season some people might have expected when the Steelers signed him to a huge deal earlier this year, but it would be a mistake to call him bad. He’s been a consistent presence in the middle of their defense, and although he makes mistakes sometimes and hasn’t had any splash plays, he’s done a good job as the quarterback of the defense.
Communication issues have hurt the defense this year, but Queen has done a fine job helping to smooth that aspect out. He hasn’t been the cleanest tackler, and he does need to be better. That doesn’t make him a bad player though. This wasn’t his best week, but hopefully that lights a fire under him and sparks him to be better.
