BALTIMORE — One of the miscues of the Steelers’ 34-17 loss to the Ravens was fairly easily explained Saturday in the postgame din of a notoriously cramped visitors locker room at M&T Bank Field.
“It is what it is,” Chris Boswell said. “It’s a messed-up kick. Life goes on.”
For the Steelers defense, life was pain. Their lapses were far more significant and confounding. A Boswell error is rarer than the Ravens finding a way to beat the Steelers, but in this one, his kickoff out of bounds gave Lamar Jackson the ball at his 40. And there was no stopping Jackson and the Ravens, who racked up 418 yards of offense as they controlled the line of scrimmage and did just about whatever they wanted.
That’s where the road leads to Patrick Queen, the quarterback of this defense who would’ve loved nothing more than to sweep his former team by winning in his old city. Instead, he launched into measured but passionate words about how he and his teammates must “take a long look in the mirror and get better” — or else.
“If we ain’t doing our job at a high level, this [stuff is] gonna get ugly real quick with the teams that’s coming up,” Queen said.
That would be the Chiefs in a few days on Christmas, followed by a potent Bengals offense in Week 18 at Acrisure Stadium. But, more to Queen’s point, it’s the postseason that awaits. As captain Cam Heyward put it, there are no “sorry” teams in the tournament.
While Queen didn’t offer specific explanations for Jackson’s three passing touchdowns, he thought all three receivers were “running free” when they scored. It’s tough to argue that, given the defensive lapses in the secondary, which was missing three starters in DeShon Elliott, Donte Jackson and — for most of the game — Joey Porter Jr. at cornerback.
“Everybody’s just gotta do their jobs and do it at a high level and trust each other to make the plays we’re supposed to make,” Queen said. “If you’re supposed to be in a certain position, you gotta be in that [expletive] position. It’s that simple. There’s no excuse for us to not be doing our jobs at a high level with all the guys that are on this team.”
All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and Queen exchanged confused looks after the first touchdown to a wide-open Isaiah Likely. Damontae Kazee and Cam Sutton threw their hands up when Mark Andrews caught one in between them just in front of the goal post. And Kazee glanced back at inexperienced second-year cornerback Cory Trice Jr. when Rashod Bateman got loose in the back left corner of the end zone for a 14-yarder.
Trice was thrust into a pivotal role because of the injuries to Jackson and Porter. Rookie nickelback Beanie Bishop Jr. has had a starting job much of the year and thought the Steelers were good with the game plan the coaches installed this week. Clearly, they didn’t execute come game time.
“It doesn't make things difficult,” Trice said of the starters going down. “We’ve just got to communicate, make sure we’re on the same page, but we practice for it all week.”
Of course, the defense was an equal-opportunity sieve as Derrick Henry rolled to 6.8 yards per carry and ripped off chunks of 44, 16 (receiving) and 14 yards. He served up stiff arms to Queen, the typically Teflon-like Elandon Roberts and others.
“It was embarrassing, to say the least, the way they ran the ball on us,” said outside linebacker Alex Highsmith, who also bemoaned the defense's lack of physicality.
Even backup Justice Hill popped a 25-yard run against a defensive front that was missing Larry Ogunjobi (groin) on the defensive line. T.J. Watt (ankle) was likely playing at less than 100% but acknowledged every team is dealing with injuries this time of year so it’s no excuse.
“We have to get the guys up to speed that are playing as quickly as possible,” Watt said. “I think we have four days until our next game. No time to sit around and pout.”
Both Trice and Bishop weren’t entirely sure yet what went wrong on the back end but expressed confidence they can look to the veterans in their unit for answers. If Jackson and Porter are out for an extended period, those answers become all the trickier to find.
“You’ve just got to watch film, diagnose what happened and move on,” Bishop said. “It’s a short week, and we’ve got to defend our home field.”
That’s the rookie’s take. Queen’s was much more detailed, fiery and, frankly, forceful.
Players need to be accountable to their teammates. They need to be in meetings on time. They need to do what they’re supposed to do at practice.
“We’re all grown men, starting from the top to the bottom,” Queen said. “If you ain’t doing this for your brother and you ain’t trying to see your brother succeed, then you're doing a disservice to this team, to the organization and to the fans.”
Queen was big on keeping the ultimate goal in mind, speaking about “where this team wants to go.” He acknowledged it starts with him in the green dot communication helmet, but it also takes all 11 down in and down out.
Seeking perfection? That’s a tall task. But it’s also the mentality that has long attracted coach Mike Tomlin to Queen and it’s also what he expects from a defense with stars at every level.
“It's just sloppy football,” Queen added. “I love the game too much for the [stuff] that happened today to just fly by and pass. It's simple stuff happening that shouldn't be happening.”
Queen clarified he wasn’t calling out anyone for slacking off, but he just wanted to re-enforce what’s necessary to be great. Two losses in a row appear to have the Steelers thinking sink or swim as they hit the homestretch.
Soon enough, it’ll be win or go home. And it’s all hands on deck.
“If we aren’t all on the same page,” Queen said, “then you just have to get off the ship.”
First Published: December 22, 2024, 2:51 a.m.