It’s just four games into the season, but veteran linebacker Patrick Queen is quietly becoming the linebacker the Pittsburgh Steelers paid him to be last offseason. He was their big splash in free agency.
He had a tough first season in the Black and Gold, one that saw him play every single snap but struggle with communication and consistency. This year, Queen is playing with his hair on fire so far in 2025, making plays left and right. He’s brought a significant element of physicality, too, and has transformed into an effective blitzer.
On Sunday in Dublin, Ireland, against the Minnesota Vikings, Queen had his best performance as a Steeler, period. He was everywhere, defending the run, rushing the passer, and providing that element the Steelers have been missing at inside linebacker recently.
Pro Football Focus didn’t see it that way, though. Queen graded out at just a 57.4 overall, including a 69.4 against the run and a 46.8 in coverage. On the day, he finished with 11 tackles, one sack, and three tackles for loss. He was everywhere throughout the game.
Let’s dive into the film room and assess Queen’s big day in Dublin.
Queen made a splash quickly in the game, racing home on his own volition to sack Carson Wentz on third down. His play forced the Vikings to settle for a field goal.
This wasn’t by design. Queen freelanced here, seeing an opening and taking it. He’s shot out of a cannon as soon as he decides to go full send and fire downhill. That left running back Jordan Mason wide open after his initial release, but Queen trusted himself and saw Wentz’s head turned to the other side of the field.
That split-second decision allowed him to shoot through the open gap and punish Wentz for the sack, helping the Steelers get off the field. They allowed just three points on Minnesota’s first drive of the game.
Queen’s sack sparked a strong day for him. He started to play more confidently, tapped into his athleticism, and really flew around.
The play above was a great example of his effort and determination on Sunday in Dublin.
That’s a quick throw to the boundary to Justin Jefferson, and Queen chases it from the far hashmark and ends up making the tackle, knocking Jefferson out of bounds for just a 5-yard gain.
The range was never in question, but man, it’s good to see Queen turn it on and cover a lot of ground like this when it’s necessary.
When Queen is at his best, he’s a read-and-run linebacker that can chase down plays. Earlier in the season, Queen was struggling to stay clean on blocks. But he’s started to play much faster and trusts his eyes more.
That showed up at Croke Park.
First of all, this is a great rep from Payton Wilson. It was awesome to see him take on a block, shed, and make a play. But watch Queen here.
He reads it and is out of the gate in the blink of an eye, killing any semblance of an angle the guard might have to reach him. He outruns the block and gets in on the play behind the line of scrimmage. When he stays clean, he’s very good.
Queen is playing fast, trusting his eyes, and is consistently around the football.
He’s finishing plays in space, too. This was a great tackle in the flat, grabbing hold of Jordan Mason’s stiff-arm attempt and dragging him down with it. He made a clean, efficient tackle.
For the year, Queen leads the Steelers with four missed tackles. But his missed tackles rate of just 10.3% is a sizable improvement on the 13.7% missed tackles rate he had in Year 1 with the Steelers.Â
With him trusting his eyes much more in recent weeks, he’s playing like more of a downhill linebacker, which was what he was when he was at his best in Baltimore. When he sees it, he’s attacking. There’s no hesitation.
Granted, this play he’s left unblocked on the run. But he sees the gap open, sees the handoff, and attacks immediately.
It leads to just a 1-yard gain. Sound tackle one-on-one in the hole, too.
He saved his best for last on the day, though.
On a 1st-and-Goal from the 1-yard line following Wilson’s tremendous tackle on Jordan Addison after an 81-yard gain, Queen knifed through for his third tackle for loss of the day.
Look at the way he’s able to sift through the traffic here, find the lane, and get into the backfield.
Once he’s there, he’s able to do the important part and finish, too. Really impressive stuff from Queen. He’s been asked to play a more attacking brand of football this season, and he’s made huge strides.
In the offseason, he said that he needed to be the linebacker the Steelers were paying him to be. So far, he’s been just that, and then some.
