Steelers LB Gets Blunt About Defense's Brutal Performance

The Steelers gave up 182 rushing yards, with running back Breece Hall collecting 107 of those yards on 19 carries and quarterback Justin Fields adding 12 rushes for 48 yards and two touchdowns.

"If we keep playing like that, we are going to get our face mashed in," Queen said. "It’s that simple. I call it like it is, and we played like absolute trash."

The starting linebacker wasn't alone in his assessment of the defense. Outside linebacker T.J. Watt joined in on the conversation, agreeing that the team struggled and that they didn't do what they expected to in Week 1.

"They had over 100 yards at half time," Watt said. "That’s obviously not acceptable. Especially when we knew that was the game plan coming into it."

His running mate, Alex Highsmith, also agreed.

"We got punched in the mouth coming out of the gate, and that’s not the standard for us," Highsmith said. "So, we just got to get in the lab, we got to digest this film, and you know, we got to come out and play more physical from the jump. We got the W, but it obviously wasn’t good enough from our part."

Pittsburgh has one of the best defenses on paper, going out to add Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay and Juan Thornhill this offseason. They're without first-round rookie Derrick Harmon, who missed the game with a knee sprain, leaving them one starter short.

Still, the group knows they ended last season with a bad run defense performance and they just started the year doing the same thing. Something they'll need to change if they want to reach the heights they've set for themselves this season.