Steelers LB Patrick Queen unfazed by upcoming return to Baltimore

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen is unfazed about how he will be received by the fans in Baltimore on Saturday afternoon.

If anything, he’s looking forward to it.

“I’m probably going to get a lot of ‘F-You’s’ and boos and stuff,” Queen said. “At the end of the day, I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

After playing his first four years in Baltimore, this will be Queen’s first trip back to M&T Bank Stadium in Black and Gold. But he says playing the Ravens once already here in Pittsburgh last month has helped him get beyond the emotions associated with knocking heads against his former teammates.

“I’m over that. It’s a new team,” Queen said. “We clinched a playoff spot. There are bigger things to look at down the road. This is a big game. It’s a division game. It’s a chance to get T-shirts and hats. I’m all for the rivalry, but I’m over the whole ‘my old team’ stuff.”

Those hats and T-shirts Queen referenced would say “2024 AFC North Champions” if the Steelers win the game. That’s a title the Ravens held last year, and one the Steelers haven’t owned since 2020.

However, the Steelers are going to have to play better on defense against Baltimore than they did in their most recent game Sunday in Philadelphia. The Eagles stayed on the field for nearly 40 minutes and won 27-13.

One of the biggest problems for Queen and the rest of the defense is that they missed a lot of tackles. That’s something that the unit had been good at throughout the season. Pro Football Focus rated the team as the second-best tackling unit in the NFL heading into last week’s action. Now they are fifth, one spot behind the Ravens.

“We just have to get better at the fundamentals,” Queen said. “There were two tackles that I could’ve made that I wish I could’ve had back. We’ve just got to be better in that aspect. I think everybody individually just has to search and find and look in the mirror and understand that there is something that we can get better at from that game.”

Queen had some public jabs with his former teammates since he signed in Pittsburgh this offseason. But the 2023 Pro Bowler did most of his talking on the field in Game 1 between these two AFC North Rivals in Week 11. He totaled 10 tackles and forced a huge fumble at the end of the first half. That play led to a Chris Boswell field goal that gave the Steelers a 9-7 lead they would never relinquish.

Patrick Queen with the clutch forced fumble against his former team!

????: #BALvsPIT on CBS/Paramount+
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— NFL (@NFL) November 17, 2024

Queen was also at the hub of a defense that limited defending NFL MVP Lamar Jackson to just 16 of 33 passing and 207 yards through the air. He was also contained on the ground, rushing for only 46 yards.

“We just had a good game being fundamentally sound. Good technique,” Queen said. “All around the board, people just doing their jobs and doing it to a high level. There was nothing drastic we have to change — or (anything) drastically we have to improve on from that game. We just have to repeat the same things that we did.”

That said, Queen is seeing the Ravens tweak a few things offensively.

“Lamar is pushing the ball down the field even more,” Queen replied when asked how his former club has evolved since Nov. 17. “He had a good rating coming into the last game that we played him. Now they are taking way more shots down the field. They are letting him do what he (does).”

Some numbers support Queen’s assessment. After posting just 6.3 yards per attempt in Pittsburgh, he is up to 8.4 over the three games since then. His average air yards per attempt of 5.6 are tied with Minnesota’s Sam Darnold for the most in football since the loss at Acrisure Stadium. Over the first 11 weeks, Jackson still led the league in that category, but he was at 4.8 air yards per attempt.

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Jackson also has no interceptions since the game in Pittsburgh and has thrown 10 touchdowns. He has also rushed for 159 yards and a score. His passer rating over that time has been 127.4.

Historically, solving Jackson has been something the Steelers do much better than other teams in the NFL. That’s why he is 1-4 as a starter against the Steelers. But if he counterpunches and helps the Ravens finally snap their four-game home-losing streak to the Steelers, Queen will probably be the guy who hears about it from the fans and his former teammates the most.

“That’s football. That’s competition at a high level,” Queen said. “I’m all for it.”