The Baltimore Ravens need this player to step up against the San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers defense is so tough because they stress you at your weakest spots. They often put linebackers in situations where they have to see a lot of eye candy but stay patient and make precise plays. That should not be a problem for the Baltimore Ravens stud linebacker Roquan Smith, but it will bring more questions for Patrick Queen.

The Baltimore Ravens need Patrick Queen to step up against the San Francisco 49ers

Queen has been able to improve his play in a big way since the Ravens acquired Smith. It has allowed Queen to play faster and think less. However, as we just noted, the 49ers are going to put that to the test. 

Queen has been playing well, but there have been some leaks in his play. In the first six games of the season, Patrick Queen posted a 6.4% missed tackle rate. That went up to 15.4% from weeks seven through nine. Then, from week ten on, he has had a 24% missed tackle rate. It has not been pretty, and it has consistently gotten worse. 

It did not cost them against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but drives consistently got into the red zone or scoring range with the assistance of extra yards due to Queen. A team like Jacksonville could not take advantage of that, but the San Francisco 49ers are designed to beat that type of player on defense. They have George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, and Deebo Samuel, who can all run over the middle and stress linebackers with fakes and yards after the catch. 

If Kyle Shanhan is drawing up a game plan for the 49ers against the Ravens, he wants to test Patrick Queen and see if he can tackle the 49ers’ yards after the catch players in space. This will make or break Queen, who Is set to be a free agent at the end of this season.