While the Pittsburgh Steelers squeaked out a win over the New York Jets on Sunday, their defense struggled immensely. One former Baltimore Ravens linebacker was fed up with the defensive performance, and it sounds like he may miss Charm City.
Despite moving to 1-0, Pittsburgh’s defense had a game to forget. The Jets totaled 394 total yards, finding success both through the air and on the ground. Justin Fields threaded the needle for 218 passing yards, and Breece Hall paced a 182-yard team rushing effort with 107 yards of his own. Following the game, linebacker Patrick Queen was clearly disgruntled with how things turned out from a defensive standpoint. He said:
"We (defense) played like s***. I am not going to sugarcoat it, we played like s*** and if we keep playing like that, we are going to get our face mashed in. It's that simple. I call it like it is, and we played like absolute trash."
It’s clear Patrick Queen misses Baltimore
Sometimes the grass is not always greener on the other side. While the loss of Queen certainly hurt Baltimore’s defense in 2024, as part of their struggles was the lack of starting-caliber linebacker play next to Roquan Smith, it is clear he might be missing Baltimore more than they miss him.
On one hand, the Ravens turned around their early-season struggles, turning in an elite second-half campaign on defense. In Queen’s case, since arriving in Pittsburgh, he has hit some roadblocks in becoming the lead linebacker within the unit.
In 2024, he registered a 58.6 grade, per Pro Football Focus, which was 65th among linebackers. On Sunday, he once again showed inadequate abilities in coverage and was slow to the football. Like usual, he came to play in blitz packages, but fell short in other phases.
Queen wears the green dot in Pittsburgh, and while he appears to communicate well with the rest of the unit, he failed to make the plays that teammates should expect from a leader. Credit where credit is due, he played every snap and made a key sack that helped seal the win; however, he did not have the best 2025 debut. With Smith no longer by his side, the responsibilities of holding down the middle of the defense have been tough on the former LSU Tiger.
This is all likely growing pains after moving Minkah Fitzpatrick in the offseason for Jalen Ramsey, but it is not a good look for Pittsburgh’s defense. While it sounds like Queen is in the right mindset to put it all together heading into the rest of the season, for someone who looks to play the villain role when he faces the Ravens, he is not playing up to expectations.