A few weeks ago, ranking much closer to the bottom of the league than the top in many relevant categories, the Pittsburgh Steelers defense decided it needed to talk.
Collectively, and to each other.
According to the player who most often lines up in the center of the unit and who is responsible for making the calls sent in by coaches, defensive players gathered during the week after the Nov. 23 loss at the Chicago Bears.
“It was just basically, like, ‘if you got something to say, say it,’ ” inside linebacker Patrick Queen said. “Guys just say what they have to say. It wasn’t, like, a ‘Come to Jesus’ moment or, like, everybody just chewing each other out. It was just like, ‘Hey, this is how I see something.’ (And someone else saying), ‘This is how I see something.’ And then, everybody was like, ‘Hey, how about we all just do this?’
“So it was just like a little bit of everybody just chiming in, saying what they had to say.”
Steelers ILB Patrick Queen on the players’ meeting among the defensive players 3 weeks back that he says reinvigorated the unit pic.twitter.com/H1J4LBXeKl
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) December 18, 2025
Though results didn’t necessarily materialize immediately — the Steelers allowed 249 rushing yards during a Nov. 30 loss to the Buffalo Bills — a two-game winning streak since has re-established the confidence of the defense.
The Steelers allowed a total of 37 points the past two games and permitted just 285 total yards — the second-lowest allowed this season — during Monday’s win against the Miami Dolphins.
At the time of the meeting, the Steelers were 28th in the NFL in total defense, 31st in passing yards and 20th in scoring defense.
Queen, who wears the “green dot” as the defensive play-caller, believes the air-it-all-out discussion played a part in the turnaround.
“I think it gives a little bit of confidence because (now) everybody knows they feel the same way (as everyone else on the defense),” Queen said. “It’s not just, ‘Hey, I see this, and I’m keeping it in my head,’ and then (someone else says), ‘I’m seeing the same thing, I’m keeping it in my head,’ and everybody’s seeing the same thing, but nobody’s saying nothing.
“So, it got to the point that you could feel the tension in the room. And everybody who needed to say something, said something. And it’s been flowing right ever since.”
Per Queen, it wasn’t necessarily any individual player or a unit captain who called the meeting. Queen also said coach Mike Tomlin talked to Queen and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin to mediate their feelings about the defense and “to get on the same page.”
“I just feel like some things could have been putting us in a better position,” Queen said. “And ‘T. A.’ felt that, as well. So it just came to the point where we just had to get on the same page about things, and how I see it and how he sees it.”
Austin said he welcomes player perspective and that he tries to take the player’s point of view on the field that perhaps coaches are not seeing from the sidelines or on film.
Austin said player input can be “valuable” but that their suggestions might not always be adhered to.
“But if players are heard,” Austin said, “and they know that everything’s not going to be used but they know you’re listening to them and you care about it, and that there are some things that are positive that we can take from it and use, then you’ll have buy-in.
“You’ll get the buy-in you want and you’ll get the results you want. And I think that’s what’s starting to show. We’re getting the discourse that we need. We have the suggestions we need. The guys are in, they’re in it, we’re in it and I think that builds for a good team group.”
Meanwhile, the players-centric discussion, Queen said, ended well because each player was able to show his teammates — and vice versa — that he cares and only wants to win.
“Everybody got off (their chests) what they needed to get off,” Queen said, “and everybody was basically right. Everybody was saying the same exact thing — that we just got to be accountable and do our job.”
