Both the Ravens and Steelers head into Sunday afternoon’s game with seven wins, so there’s plenty at stake before even delving into individual storylines.
One of the juicier subplots on that front involves Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen. Queen spent his first four seasons with the Ravens, but signed with the Steelers as a free agent this offseason and said this week that the Ravens never offered a deal that would have kept him in Baltimore.
Queen said he “will have feelings” during Sunday’s game as a result and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is hoping to channel those feelings into a positive outcome for his team.
“I’m going to send him out for the coin toss, if that gives you any indication,” Tomlin said to Bob Labriola of the team’s website. “Motivation is good. We’re human, and everyone wants to feel wanted. And so I’d imagine it’s not only a motivation this week, but it’s probably been a motivation for him every week. Particularly those that you do business with, that you work shoulder to shoulder with every day, you want to be appreciated. And obviously they chose to move in a different direction. And if you’re right minded and grown and mature about it, you utilize that as good fuel, as motivation and focus, and that’s what I’ve discovered about PQ since he’s been here. He’s taken what seemingly is a negative and he’s made it a positive in that it’s been really motivating for him day to day to be the best that he can be and have a good relationship with us.”
The Ravens and Queen know each other well and the side that can better use that to their advantage should have an edge in Sunday’s battle for pole position in the AFC North.
