Steelers announce themselves as contenders with vintage defensive performance vs. Ravens

PITTSBURGH — Patrick Queen is no stranger to the Pittsburgh Steelers – Baltimore Ravens rivalry.

During his first four seasons, the rangy inside linebacker wreaked havoc in purple and black, bringing his aggressive playing style and trash-talking mindset to one of the game's great series. But when the Ravens decided not to offer him a contract in free agency and the Steelers swooped in by making him the highest-paid outside free agent in team history, he prepared himself to play the "villain."

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Although Queen awoke Sunday with a surprising sense of calm after feeling snubbed for much of the offseason, there's no doubt extra emotions were flowing for a linebacker who plays with his heart on his sleeve. Leading up to the game, teammates, family members and friends were in Queen's ear, telling him this would be his chance to produce his first turnover as a Steeler.

"Everybody kept telling me, 'You're going to get one,'" Queen said. "It's my dad's birthday today, too. He was like, 'You've got to get me one.'"

With the Ravens leading by 1 point late in the second quarter, Queen's moment came. Quarterback Lamar Jackson found Isaiah Likely on a tight end screen. Queen fought through the traffic, grabbed the ball with two hands and pried it loose. He jumped on the fumble to complete the sequence, then raced to the closed end of Acrisure Stadium to celebrate.

"My mom was in the stands on that side," Queen said. "She said bring the ball if you get a turnover. I blacked out. I just grabbed the ball, and I took off. She's probably going to be (ticked) when I get home. I'm not going to be able to get no home-cooked meal for a minute."

Queen might need to go elsewhere for dinner. But Sunday afternoon in the Steelers' 18-16 victory , he and the defense ate.

Pittsburgh's defense held Jackson and the NFL 's top-ranked offense to season lows in points (16) and yards (329). Jackson completed a season-low 48.5 percent of his passes — the first time all season he's been under 60 percent — and recorded a season-worst 66.1 passer rating.

As for Queen, he racked up a team-high 10 tackles and poured some gasoline on the rivalry, beginning when coach Mike Tomlin sent him out for the opening coin toss.

"One man's trash is another man's treasure," Tomlin said after the game. "I'm glad he's on our team."

The Steelers entered the game with the NFL's second-ranked scoring defense, holding opponents to just 16.2 points per game. This was their biggest test to date against the Ravens, who entered the game atop the charts offensively in numerous categories, including points per game, total yards, rushing offense and red zone offense. With the way the Steelers' offense has improved under new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and behind Russell Wilson , many wondered if this would be when Steelers-Ravens turned into a shootout.

"There were people like, 'It will probably be like 44-42,' and you're like, ugh," defensive co-captain Cameron Heyward said. "We don't welcome that."

Instead, what did we get? A vintage defensive performance that helped the offense overcome a touchdown-less afternoon that included going 0-for-4 in the red zone. The victory gives the 8-2 Steelers a 1 1/2-game lead over the Ravens (7-4) in the competitive AFC North and makes a statement to the league that this team can be a legitimate postseason contender.

And the Steelers have more than one way to win. After leaning on the offense to overcome a 10-point, second-half deficit last week at the Washington Commanders , the Steelers defense carried the team Sunday. Pittsburgh stymied Jackson yet again — he is now 1-4 with a 66.2 passer rating as a starter in his career against the Steelers.

"Lamar is a great talent. I'm not taking anything away from that," Heyward said. "We just got great players over here, too. T.J. Watt . Minkah Fitzpatrick . Larry Ogunjobi . DeShon Elliott . Joey Porter Jr. Keeanu Benton . We've got a bunch of guys on this side of the ball that are ready for the moment."

Beginning on the second play from scrimmage, those playmakers showed up. Starting in place of the injured Alex Highsmith , second-year outside linebacker Nick Herbig punched the ball loose from Derrick Henry . That was one of three turnovers forced by the Steelers' defense.

Queen came up with the second. And another newcomer to the rivalry, rookie Payton Wilson , was responsible for the third. In the days leading up to the game, Tomlin challenged Wilson, knowing he'd have his hands full against speedy, pass catching running back Justice Hill .

After Russell Wilson threw an interception in the end zone on a jump ball to tight end Darnell Washington , the Steelers were clinging to a 15-10 lead with less than 10 minutes to play. The Ravens were driving downfield with a chance to take the lead when Hill raced down the left sideline on a wheel route.

"I went under the pick route," Payton Wilson said. "Once you go under the pick route, you're in chase mode. Once his hands go up, I just played through his hands, and the ball happened to be there and took it from him."

Wilson's description doesn't do the play justice. Somehow, he reached his hand in and with one arm ripped the ball away for his first interception as a Steeler.

"Plays like that, that's not normal," Queen said of the interception. "To know Justice, run with him step for step and make a play like that? That's All-Pro stuff. That's Pro Bowl plays. That's extremely huge, especially for a rookie to make a play like that is insane."

Between those splash plays and a sound schematic approach (do the Steelers have a secret for how to defend Jackson?), Pittsburgh was in position to win. Yet, with the only offense coming from Chris Boswell 's right foot in the form of six field goals, the defense still needed one last stand.

After the Ravens capped a 69-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Zay Flowers , Baltimore lined up for the two-point conversion with 1:06 remaining aiming to tie the score. The Steelers called timeout before the play, and a somewhat surprising voice rose up in the huddle.

"Joey (Porter Jr.), who usually be the most quiet one, was sitting there like, 'We're stopping them. They're not scoring this two-point conversion,'" Queen said. "That was huge. Hearing him actually gave everyone some confidence to go out there and get that stop."

On the play, Jackson rolled to his left and was immediately pressured by Herbig. The Ravens QB escaped Herbig's outstretched arms, but there was Porter to wrap him up and force a two-handed desperation heave that fell incomplete.

"We knew we had to stop that two-point conversion," Porter said. "We do that every week in Seven Shots (the goal line drill). So there was nothing irregular for us. We just knew we had to stand up and get that stop."

The Steelers started this season projected to finish last in the division by Vegas oddsmakers and facing countless questions. Who would be the quarterback? How would the new offensive coordinator fare? How close to his All-Pro best would Heyward be after two surgeries? How would Najee Harris look in a contract year?

Now, with the unflappable Kansas City Chiefs losing their first game of the season, Jackson looking mortal and back-to-back Pittsburgh wins over presumptive playoff teams, the Steelers look very much like one of the top four teams in the AFC — and they might be closer to No. 1 than No. 4 in that conversation.

"Obviously, I've been fortunate to win a world championship before," Russell Wilson said. "On those championship teams, the Super Bowl team, we just had so much great talent. But the thing about talent is that you also have to have the work ethic and the drive and the will to win, and the ability to win close games."

A week ago, it was Wilson and the offense coming up with the crunch-time heroics on a touchdown pass to Mike Williams . This week, it was the defense rising to the occasion on a two-point conversion to seal the win.

While there's still plenty of room for improvement, especially on offense after their red zone failures, the Steelers are proving themselves to be a complementary team that can have game-changing moments on both sides of the ball and a resilient attitude to come out on the top in white-knuckle games.

"Those are the type of championship moments you have to have," Russell Wilson continued. "The best part is, is nobody blinked. ... We stayed focused. We stayed in the moment. We haven't done anything yet. We've got a lot more football to play, and that's the part that we embrace."

The way the Steelers are playing, that very well might extend deep into January.

(Photo of Patrick Queen: Joe Sargent / )