The Pittsburgh Steelers' defense has stifled the Buffalo Bills’ offense in the first half of their Week 13 matchup. Despite allowing 125 rushing yards in the first two quarters, the Steelers’ defense forced two timely takeaways to pitch an early shutout before the Bills knocked in a field goal just before the half.
Unfortunately, just before the two-minute warning struck, Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen went down with an apparent lower-body injury. Queen went to the ground on the outskirts of a third-down run by Josh Allen. The veteran linebacker limped off the field and went to the blue medical tent.
Queen was ruled questionable to return due to a hip injury. Without Queen, Pittsburgh will turn to a combination of Payton Wilson, Malik Harrison, and the recently returned Cole Holcomb.
Patrick Queen’s sudden exit puts added pressure on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ run defense against Buffalo
Queen’s injury followed an exchange with Allen as he scrambled and slid near the first-down marker, with Queen delivering a hit after the quarterback was on the turf. A light scuffle resulted, though Queen wasn’t charged with an unsportsmanlike penalty for the hit.
Beyond that exchange, Queen was having a fairly productive outing in the stat sheet, picking up six tackles and a QB hit. Stats aside, Pittsburgh did see both Allen and running back James Cook pick up some solid gains. Still, with Queen out, Pittsburgh’s strongest run-stuffing linebackers will get more snaps.
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Wilson himself has already picked up seven tackles in the first half, while Harrison and Holcomb have combined for four at halftime. If there’s one position Pittsburgh should feel best about its depth, it’s middle linebacker. The trio of Wilson, Harrison, and Holcomb sees the field plenty, so no one should be unprepared to step up in Queen’s absence.
Nonetheless, Queen is a three-down player and holds the green dot responsibility to lead the defense out of the huddle. The consistency and leadership aspect is one to consider if Queen’s hip injury causes him to miss time.
We’ll continue to monitor Queen’s status as more information becomes available.