Linebacker Patrick Queen of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Commanders tight end John Bates don’t sound like they are going to be friends anytime soon.
The pair earned offsetting unnecessary roughness penalties after a skirmish against each other early in the second quarter of Week 10. Now after the game, the two are exchanging jabs through interviews and social media.
In response to Bates’ description of the play immediately following the 28-27 Steelers win, Queen explained what happened that led to the skirmish from his perspective.
“Tried to dump me so I dumped him,” Queen tweeted on November 12. “If he still mad, I ain’t hard to find.”
Queen responded with that comment by quote tweeting a clip of Bates from The Washington Post’s Sam Fortier. The clip was of a postgame interview, where Bates used the word “dirty” to describe Queen’s actions on the play.
“I was just playing through the whistle. It’s just the way I play,” Bates said, via Fortier. “I mean, if you go back and watch the film, in my opinion, it was him probably trying to do something dirty to me.
“Things happened, and it is what is it.”
Officiating Plays Huge Role in Steelers-Commanders Outcome
How one views the slow-mo replay of what led to the Queen-Bates confrontation probably depends on one’s perspective. Queen appears to be gripping at Bates’ left arm as he falls on top of the tight end. But just prior to that, the replay also seems to show Bates committing a holding penalty on Queen, which causes the linebacker to fall to the ground.
The play is probably a perfect microcosm of the officiating from the Steelers-Commanders matchup. Neither fan base was particularly pleased with the calls throughout the game.
Washington fell a yard short of gaining a first-down to continue a potential game-winning drive in the 2-minute drill during the fourth quarter. Replay appeared to show that Commanders tight end Zach Ertz caught the ball perhaps only inches shy of the line to gain, but the officials mark the ball a full yard short.
On social media, Commanders fans also complained that the Steelers committed a holding penalty on Russell Wilson’s game-winning touchdown throw to Mike Williams.
On the other side, T.J. Watt could have earned a holding penalty in the end zone during the fourth quarter, which would have resulted in a safety. That was after Steelers running back Jaylen Warren fumbled at the 1-yard line. CBS officiating expert Gene Steratore argued during the broadcast Warren’s progress was stopped, so forward progress should have been called at the 1.
Furthermore, Steratore said on 102.5 WDVE’s Morning Show that the officials should have called the Commanders for holding penalty on a field-goal attempt in the third quarter.
Other than poor officiating overall, the common theme was the lack of holding penalties in the Steelers-Commanders game.
Overall, the two teams combined for 10 penalties — 5 on each team. While that was even, depending on one’s perspective, the amount of missed calls was not.
Patrick Queen Plays Best Game as Steelers LB
The Steelers made a big investment in Queen this offseason. They signed him to a 3-year, $41 million deal, the largest free agent contract in Steelers history.
Through the first half of the season, Queen hadn’t really lived up to the contract. But he arguably had his best game with the Steelers versus the Commanders.
While playing all 64 of Pittsburgh’s defensive snaps, he posted 7 combined tackles, including 2 for loss. It was the first time this season Queen had more than 1 tackle for loss. He also had 1 pass defense.
Queen has earned a Pro Football Focus player grade of at least 64 in each of the past two games. That’s his best back-to-back weeks this season.
The Steelers defense is ranked in the top 10 in a lot of categories this season. But the unit could be significantly better if Queen plays up to his potential.
