Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — Luckily for Patrick Queen and the Pittsburgh Steelers, their 4-2 record doesn’t reflect their defensive ranking heading into Week 8. Coordinator Teryl Austin’s unit is allowing 374.7 yards per game, a total better than only four teams in the league.
“I think we just (need to) do what we do better,” Queen said Monday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “I think you could mix stuff up, but, at the end of the day, what we got, we’re going with it. We’ve got the guys to do it. We’ve just gotta go out there and execute.”
Queen also said the rotation of players in front of and behind him might be struggling to get in a rhythm because of their timeshare, something that could be contributing to communication lapses.
The Steelers are in the same company with the New York Giants— who have given up 376.0 yards per game — the Baltimore Ravens (380.8), the Cincinnati Bengals (394.4) and the Dallas Cowboys (401.6). Pittsburgh allowed the lowly Bengals 470 yards of total offense.
“It’s the NFL. Sometimes it happens, even though you don’t want it to,” Queen said. “And sometimes, it’s ugly. But, at the end of the day, it’s the NFL. They get paid to play. Their coaches get paid to coach. We’ve just gotta make the plays. We’ve gotta go out there and we’ve gotta execute better and try not to let those things happen.”
Queen was asked if opposing offenses are aware of what the Steelers are throwing at them.
“They know what a lot of people in the NFL are in,” Queen said. “Some defenses are doing better than what we’re doing, even when the offense (knows) what they’re running, so I think it’s a thing in the NFL. Certain coaches (have) got certain ways they call the game and offenses may know that, but, at the end of the day, we get paid to play. Technique-wise, assignment-wise, whatever. We could be better.”
Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Static Steelers Defense Must Fix Issues to Avoid Nosedive
