Steelers' Own Super Bowl Champion Delivers Bold Challenge To Two Starters

The Pittsburgh Steelers have spent part of October wondering whether the middle of their defense could be trusted in the biggest moments. Sunday's win in Paris offered an encouraging answer. The interesting part is the voice behind the challenge that helped frame the day for two starters. He wasn't even eligible to play against New Orleans, yet his message carried considerably more weight than the usual pregame speech about flying around and hitting somebody.

Patrick Queen revealed after Pittsburgh's 16-10 win over the New Orleans Saints that he and Payton Wilson had received a Super Bowl-minded challenge from Elandon Roberts. The veteran, who returned to the Steelers' practice squad earlier this month, told the two starters that championship defenses need inside linebackers who trust each other, chase the football and make life easier for the man beside them. Queen and Wilson took that message into Sunday's game.

Their performances gave the conversation real substance. Wilson intercepted a pass near Pittsburgh's goal line in the third quarter, turning away a Saints possession that threatened to change the lead. Queen finished with 10 tackles, a pass defended and a fourth-quarter sack that forced New Orleans to punt with a little more than six minutes remaining. One linebacker erased a scoring opportunity. The other helped slam the door before the Saints could mount another serious threat. During his postgame interview, Queen explained how Roberts' advice became a personal promise between the two starters before kickoff.

“Just trusting each other and knowing that we got each other's backs. It was actually crazy. We were talking about it with E-Rod. Every team that you see that goes to the Super Bowl, either wins it or doesn't, just makes it. They always got two good linebackers. They always got two guys that fly around and get to the ball every single play and just have each other back. He really had that conversation with us and just told us, like, hey, let's go be y'all. So we just went out there. Before the game, Peyton was like, let's go do it. I was like, I got your back, man,” Queen said.

Roberts isn't dispensing championship advice from a motivational poster. He won two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, spending four seasons there before stops in Miami, Pittsburgh and Las Vegas. The Steelers brought him back during training camp, released him at final cuts and completed a practice-squad reunion on October 12. He wasn't elevated for Sunday's game. Apparently, not having a game-day uniform doesn't prevent a veteran from making himself useful.

There's an amusing twist to that arrangement. Earlier this month, Pittsburgh's inside linebackers were being criticized for missed tackles and questionable execution, especially after the loss to the Cleveland Browns. Now one of the people challenging them to reach a championship standard is somebody the organization cut before Week 1. Roberts also worked with defensive coordinator Patrick Graham on the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025, giving him familiarity with both the position and the man coordinating it.

The message carries more football substance than its motivational packaging suggests. Queen helps organize the defense and attacks interior gaps. Wilson's range allows him to close throwing windows and chase plays sideline to sideline. If both linebackers start freelancing into the same gap, the offense gets an easy escape route. If each trusts the other's assignment, one can attack the ball knowing somebody is responsible for the space he just vacated. That chemistry gets tested long before anyone gets to pose for the celebration photo.

The Saints couldn't establish a running game, finishing with 18 yards on 17 carries. Wilson's interception stopped a long third-quarter drive, and Queen's late pressure helped protect a six-point lead. The defensive front deserves its share of the credit, but those two plays offered an unusually clean illustration of what Roberts wanted: both linebackers contributing in moments when Pittsburgh needed the entire unit to hold together.

There's a limit to how literally Queen's Super Bowl observation should be taken. Roberts was offering a lesson from experience, not presenting a statistical law that every finalist has exactly two elite inside linebackers. Pittsburgh also isn't one strong Sunday away from solving every defensive concern. The group surrendered enough completions to keep New Orleans within striking distance, and its earlier tackling issues don't evaporate because a few highlight plays made the flight home more enjoyable.

Steelers Need This Partnership To Become Routine

Sunday was a start, but calling Queen and Wilson a championship-caliber tandem already would be a premature victory lap. Pittsburgh invested in Queen to command the middle and drafted Wilson for the rare athletic traits that allow him to erase mistakes. Those expectations were always higher than merely producing the occasional splash play. Their first real championship-level accomplishment would be making the ordinary downs as reliable as the spectacular ones.

The next test comes against Cleveland, the opponent that exposed Pittsburgh's tackling problems in a 27-24 loss earlier this month. Roberts' message won't stop a running back by itself. Queen still has to fit the correct gap, Wilson still has to finish the tackle, and both have to communicate when an offense shifts the picture. That's where a partnership becomes something more useful than a catchy postgame quote.

Roberts might eventually earn a place in the game-day rotation himself. For now, the practice-squad veteran has handed the starting duo an assignment with Super Bowl-sized expectations. They answered it in Paris. He'll be watching to see whether they can keep answering it when the celebration ends.

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