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Will the Real Pat Queen Please Stand Up?

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Patrick Queen on the sidelines
Shawn Hubbard/Baltimore Ravens
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Reading Time: 6 minutes

This is Tale of the Tape: Defense. For Tale of the Tape: Offense, click here.

The Baltimore Ravens defense allowed more than 30 points in each of their first two regular season games, but they’ve put together back-to-back solid performances the last two weeks, including Sunday’s 23-7 win over the Denver Broncos. Despite injuries and a COVID scare, the defense has, by and large, played well, with standout starts from Anthony Averett, Chuck Clark, and Calais Campbell. There are plenty of clips from the Broncos game that I’ll get to, but first, I want to talk about Patrick Queen.

After an excellent game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Queen has struggled with missed tackles and hesitation in Baltimore’s last three contests. But even in bad games, he still has moments that pop on tape. The talent is clearly there; what’s missing? Let’s dive in and find out!

These two plays from Sunday’s game do a great job of encompassing the duality of Patrick Queen. In the top play, he does a fine job not over-committing initially, but once he sees the guard pulling, he should be attacking his blocker in preparation of the run coming right at him. Instead, he lets the offense dictate where the play will go, rather than trying to disrupt it himself.  It was going to be tough for him to make the tackle on that play, but he could have gummed up the works and given his teammates more time to flow to the ball.

Then look at the bottom clip. Queen sees the gap very quickly and attacks with speed, engaging the pulling guard before he’s ready and making the block-shed and tackle a lot easier.

So where is Queen falling short? I think it’s confidence. He appears to be able to make reads and diagnose plays pretty well for a second-year defender, but he struggles to impact and/or finish the play.

Watch this play. Queen clearly knows his job and understands the play developing before him. In fact, his first few steps put him closer to the hole than any other player on the field. But he hesitates, despite possessing the requisite speed to shoot the gap and make the play. The angle on this clip isn’t great, but take a look at his footwork. He shuffles horizontally to mirror the running back rather than attacking to disrupt the play. Contrast that play with this fine piece of work by Chuck Clark.

See how Clark is always moving towards the point of attack, never just side-to-side? I know they play different positions, but I think the point still stands, especially considering how both players are deployed in versatile ways. Clark is confident in his read and puts himself in the play, rather than waiting for it to come to him.

Here are two more examples. On the first play, he takes a few shuffle-hops to the side rather than attacking the gap or his blocker. He still makes the tackle with a nice block-shed, so it’s clear the talent and tackling ability are there! Now watch the second clip. He still hesitates to confirm his read, but it’s only for a fraction of a second before he launches forward and disrupts the play. Importantly, he didn’t spend any time moving side-to-side, which would’ve given the RB more time to set up his blocks or try to make Queen miss.

Now, I’m definitely not saying that Queen should completely stop moving side-to-side. But he’s successful on this play not just because of his lateral speed to the edge, but because he attacks the running back in the hole rather than letting him choose to bounce it outside or cut back.

Finally, check out the second play on this clip. He knows he has to defend against the RPO when playing the Chiefs, so he hangs on in the middle of the field to confirm that Patrick Mahomes handed the ball off. But once he makes that read, he attacks the ball and makes the stop.

I know Queen has missed quite a few tackles this season, but I’m not that worried about it. Most NFL players become better tacklers as their career goes on, and it’s clear that the talent and ability are there for Queen. I think it’s his mentality that needs more attention. He clearly knows how to diagnose plays, but he sometimes hesitates to disrupt them. Perhaps he’s afraid of getting burned if he’s wrong, or maybe he’s just not confident enough in himself to make the right read. Either way, that hesitation allows blockers and ballcarriers to set the terms of engagement, often leading to positive yardage. I actually think confidence and aggressiveness could help Queen with the missed tackles, too; after all, if he’s quicker to the ballcarrier, that’s less time the back has to make him miss.

Queen is still a tremendous athlete who is very early in his career. Playing middle linebacker in the NFL, especially in Baltimore is a tough, high-pressure job. I absolutely think he’ll turn it around, sooner rather than later.

The Best of the Rest

The Ravens defense did put on a show in Denver, and honestly, there’s only one negative play I wanted to point out.

On this play, Broncos running back Javonte Williams bounces outside with a great spin move. Nothing you can really do about that. But then, several Ravens defenders get a hand on him but can’t even slow him down, letting him break through the scrum where he’s met by Marlon Humphrey, one of the Ravens’ best open-field tacklers. Humphrey is also known as a strip artist, and he goes for the forced fumble here. Big mistake, as Williams appears to be ready for the punch and covers up the ball, carrying Humphrey for at least 20 yards before help arrives.

Part of the Ravens’ tackling issues seem to be their constant attempts to force fumbles. The problem is that other teams know how good the Ravens, especially Humphrey, are at stripping the football. So they cover up and protect the ball, limiting fumbles. But it’s hard to tackle and go for a punch-out at the same time, and Baltimore’s defense seems to go for the latter all too often, leading to missed tackles and extended runs. I’m all for the turnovers, but the Ravens have to adjust to opponents that clearly fear the ability of Humphrey and others to force fumbles.

Now for the good stuff!

One of the biggest talking points around Odafe Oweh’s selection in the 2021 NFL Draft was how Ravens defensive coordinator Don ‘Wink’ Martindale would use his versatility. It’s safe to say that Wink is probably having fun with the ridiculous athlete that is Oweh. Martindale knows that Oweh can close on quarterbacks with scary speed, so he tries to set up the rookie with clear paths to the quarterback. Oweh’s Week 2 forced interception of Patrick Mahomes is another good example of his appearing to drop back in coverage before going full-tilt at an opposing QB.

Of course, Oweh can also do this against opposing tackles, using his speed and power to gain momentum before batting away a weak attempt to contain him. But it’s the threat of Oweh’s versatility that makes him an extremely valuable piece of this defense. He can do so many different things at such a high speed that it’s difficult to predict and react to him.

Now for two plays featuring Ravens’ I’ve been wanting more out of: Tyus Bowser and Justin Madubuike. Bowser was a much better threat off the edge this week, recording two sacks, including this rep where he just owns Broncos LT Garrett Bolles. The second play sees Madubuike do a great job of catching Bolles off-balance as he shifts inside. Then, Madubuike closes on Bridgewater in a scary-quick amount of time. Imagine seeing a 293-pounder come at you that fast. I’m excited to see a lot more out of these two guys the rest of the season.

Calais Campbell is becoming a weekly fixture on TOTT. He was an absolute force against the Broncos after an insane game in Detroit. It almost seems like he can move Bolles whenever he wants, he’s just waiting for the perfect moment to throw him aside and make the tackle.

I also want to briefly mention the Ravens’ special teams play on Sunday, partially because it lets me talk about Chuck Clark again.

This is a starting safety in the NFL giving a routine kickoff everything he’s got. Can’t say enough about everything he brings to this team. But everyone else does pretty well, too, with four Ravens converging on the returner, just like they’re supposed to.

Devin Duvernay is pacing the league as a punt returner, leading the NFL with 189 return yards and 18.9 yards per return. The next closest average is 13.3 yards per return, meaning that Duvernay is picking up an extra 5.6 yards per punt return for his offense. He makes a great read here to evade the gunner and take off downfield. But what I love about this play is that his first instinct is to pick up the yards in front of him by running towards the middle of the field, before realizing that he has enough space to turn the corner. Oftentimes, return specialists can get so focused on trying to break a big return, often by running around the coverage team that they end up not gaining any yards, or even losing a few. Duvernay’s first instinct is to run North-South, which is what it should be, but he also has the vision to see poor coverage down the opposite end of the field, so he uses his speed to give his offense fantastic field position. Bonus points for making the punter miss to pick up an extra 10 yards!

One final reminder:

Chuck Clark rules.

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Picture of Nikhil Mehta
Nikhil Mehta
Nikhil Mehta is a sportswriter and football analyst from Marriottsvile, Maryland who grew up on Ed Reed interceptions and elite QB play from Joe Flacco. He has written for RSR since 2020, focusing on film analysis, salary cap management, and roster buildling. He first attended training camp in 2022 before adding offseason practices in 2023 and the NFL Scouting Combine in 2024. He currently writes Battle Plans with Dev Panchwagh and can also be found writing about the Orioles at Eutaw Street Report. Check out his Russell Street Replay and Baltimore Birdwatchers podcasts, and find him on X @nikknowsball.
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