One of the many bright spots on defense for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons was the defensive line, which was stout throughout the game.
Not only was Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins under pressure all game, Atlanta's rushing attack couldn't get much going. Falcons backs averaged 4.2 yards per carry and didn't break off any explosive plays.
For Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen, this made the game boring, as the group upfront was able to take care of business and take a lot off his plate.
"It was kinda boring," Queen said, per Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I missed two tackles I wish I could have back, but when you've got a D-line like that, it's kinda hard to make plays."
Per Josh Carney of Steelers Depot, Queen missed three of the five tackle attempts he had, which works out to a 60% miss rate. He posted a very low 3.6% tackle rate despite playing 100% of the snaps, per Jon Macri of Pro Football Focus.
Queen also had some issues in coverage after giving up two receptions on both of the targets thrown his way for 36 yards, leading to a 49.4 coverage grade, according to PFF.
Pittsburgh signed Queen to a three-year, $41 million deal this past offseason, which only makes his struggles more glaring. But it's only one game, so nobody should be going crazy over it yet.
That said, if this continues, it's going to put more pressure on the rest of the defense.
