The Pittsburgh Steelers had a very rough end to the 2024 season, and the defense was the primary reason for that. Players were pointing fingers at each other during that losing streak as nobody could get on the same page with each other. However, the offseason is not a time for that. Instead, it's is a good time to self-reflect and see how you can be a better player and teammate, no matter what's happening around you, and that has been going on since locker clean-out day in Pittsburgh.
While speaking with Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, safety DeShon Elliott spoke about his teammate, Patrick Queen, and the rough season he had in 2024.
"The player that he’s capable of being; he didn’t play up to his standards,” Elliott said. “Being one of my really good friends, both in our first year in the defense — it’s not something I’m trying to blame it on, but throughout the season, you grow, and there are growing pains… I know he’ll be better this year, for sure. There’s nothing really negative you can say about it."
Elliott knows Queen well from their time together with the Baltimore Ravens in 2020 and 2021, so he understands that the version of him running around in the black and gold is not the same one that he saw from the other side of the rivalry. Those constant defensive breakdowns can't happen again, and as the primary communicator of the defense, it all starts with Queen telling everyone their assignments.
Queen also told Batko about how aggravated and disappointed he was in himself for his performance throughout the season. During the season, he kept talking about how no one was doing their job, but now, he's only focusing on himself and where he went wrong. Once he gets back on track, the rest of the defensive should hopefully fall into place and go back to being the dominant force that the NFL is used to having.
Steelers May Be Trying To Help Patrick Queen With Communication
The Steelers have reportedly been adding new concepts and schemes into the defense, including a quarters defense that is partially designed to improve communication, especially in unbalanced offensive formations. That addition should help limit those defensive breakdowns where someone is wide open or there's a free lane for the running back. At this point, the unit as a whole needs all the help they can get.
From the very top to the very bottom, the Steelers have always had problems with adapting and making adjustments, and that's where the communication issues primarily stemmed from, as the schemes themselves reportedly did not leave much wiggle room for pre-snap adjustments. Opposing offenses took full advantage of that, and nobody in Pittsburgh had any answers on how to fix it as the games were going on.
Even with the coaching staff trying to make life easier on Queen, he still needs to improve physically. He had quite a few dropped interceptions during the year. He also did not fare well in coverage. Opposing quarterbacks targeted him 76 times, which is a career high for him. He gave up 58 receptions which is also a career high. It's safe to say that as a 3-down backer, he needs to improve his ability in the passing game a lot.
He could use a little improvement in the running game, as he had nine missed tackles, but that's tied for his career-best in that stat. He had 129 tackles during the season, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. He did record his career-worst total for tackles for loss with just six, so he needs to get back to getting into the backfield quickly. There is a lot for him to work on. He knows it, and so does Elliott.
