After losing two straight games to the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys, the Pittsburgh Steelers have dropped from 3-0 to 3-2 in the blink of an eye, and a contingent of fans are beginning to get a bit restless.
With that in mind, on October 8, Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen posted a brief reminder on social media.
“Marathon not a race🤞🏽,” Queen wrote on X.
Patrick Queen Has Struggled in Pass Coverage With Steelers, But He’s Not Alone
The Steelers defense has tailed off the past two weeks, and that’s contributed to their losses just as much as the offensive deficiencies have. Although the Cowboys only scored 20 points in Week 5, Dallas drove up and down the field with ease accumulating 445 total yards of offense.
And if not for multiple red zone turnovers, it probably would have been a very different scoreline on Sunday night.
The issues on the defensive side, according to head coach Mike Tomlin on October 8, have partially stemmed from breakdowns in communication. That would make sense considering the Steelers’ numbers in pass coverage.
Queen himself has not been great in this area, but he’s not alone and the recent struggles have been collective.
Undrafted rookie slot CB Beanie Bishop Jr. has allowed 201 yards and 2 touchdowns in coverage over the first five weeks according to Pro Football Focus. Fellow cornerbacks Joey Porter Jr. and Donte Jackson are not far behind though, with 144 yards apiece.
Then there’s Queen, at 140 yards allowed — including an opposing passer rating of 108.3.
Safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Damontae Kazee round out the group of Steelers defenders that have been charged with more than 100 yards through the air through five games.
Steelers Beat Reporter Blames Added Responsibility When Pondering Patrick Queen’s Early Struggles
If it was just Queen’s below average marks in pass coverage that were the only problem, Steelers fans might be able to live with that.
The middle linebacker’s run defense has been the bigger issue, however, and it’s been a major problem so far according to PFF. Queen has missed 8 tackles compared to 5 key defensive stops since joining the Steelers, 7 of which have come in run defense.
That performance has yielded an awful stop percentage of 1.7% in run defense and a missed tackle percentage of 29.2%. He’s also allowed an average of 5.6 rush yards per tackle.
When asked about Queen’s early struggles during a mailbag article on October 8, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette beat reporter Ray Fittipaldo blamed the added responsibilities that come with wearing the green dot on defense.
“It is taking some time [for Queen to find his footing],” Fittipaldo acknowledged. “There are reasons for it.”
“[Queen] has a lot on his plate as the QB of the defense,” the beat writer went on. “He is making all the calls and has a lot of responsibility. Some of the issues in coverage are because of poor communication. He’s new and he’s probably not playing fast because he has so many other responsibilities.”
By that logic, Queen should improve as the weeks go on. And he better, considering the Steelers paid him $13.84 million in guaranteed money when they signed him to a three-year contract this spring.
