The Steelers took another blow on the back end before the result was even decided. Safety Deshon Elliott left in the second half with an apparent knee injury and was ruled out, per the NFL’s official site.
Elliott had five tackles before departing, continuing what had been a reliably productive year after signing a summer extension. His exit forced more shuffling in a secondary already under strain, and the concern now shifts to the timetable and who fills the void if he’s sidelined beyond a week.
In the aftermath of a 35-25 defeat to the Packers, linebacker Patrick Queen put words to the locker-room mood and to the game’s subtext: Aaron Rodgers’ first meeting against Green Bay as Pittsburgh’s quarterback, as noticed by ESPN.
“We all knew what it meant,” Queen said, noting that Rodgers did not address the team about the game’s significance. “That’s the stuff that kind of stings the most. You want to go get that for him… You want to go get it for him. So that definitely stings. Definitely stings.” The message from Queen extended to how the unit played situationally, too.
Queen also underscored the need for urgency, as relayed by ESPN’s Brooke Pryor on X: “We do it at practice. I think when you get to the game and something go left, you kind of get a little timid or whatever you want to call it. From that, you just got to hone in, lock in.” For a defense that’s flashed in stretches, the gap between practice intensity and game-day execution was the sharpest critique of the night.
Elliott’s injury only heightens those concerns. Before going down while closing on tight end Tucker Kraft, he had been a steady tone-setter on a group looking to stabilize after last week’s loss. If he misses time, Pittsburgh will need the depth chart to hold, and quickly, with the margin for error thinning as the schedule turns to November.
Rodgers did his part to frame the stakes at halftime. He opened with three field goal drives and then, just before the break, marched Pittsburgh 84 yards and hit DK Metcalf on a two-yard slant for his first touchdown against his former team.
Pre-game, he downplayed any revenge angle, but the moment still resonated: a vintage end-of-half answer in a game thick with history and emotion.
The takeaway from Queen’s comments was blunt: the Steelers knew the moment and didn’t match it long enough. Urgency can’t wait for the next whistle.
