The Pittsburgh Steelers knew the key to beating the Buffalo Bills in their Week 13 matchup was stopping quarterback Josh Allen.
They held the reigning MVP for much of the first half. Allen threw for just 62 yards with an interception and rushed for only 27 yards, but he did some damage in short-yardage situations, picking up multiple first downs with his legs.
Allen’s running prowess was something the Steelers defense keyed in on by the second quarter, and one player’s over-aggressiveness will likely lead to a significant punishment by the NFL when it releases its list of player fines for Week 13 next Saturday.
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With three minutes left in the second quarter, Allen took off on a rollout to his right. As he approached the first-down line, Allen slid as he picked up the first down, but he was smashed hard into the turf by Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen, who seemingly taunted Allen by standing over him for an extra second or two.
Several Bills players flocked to the scene, and offensive tackle Alec Anderson took exception to the violent hit, shoving Queen while being separated from the pile.
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Running back James Cook appealed to the officials on the sideline asking how a penalty wasn’t thrown for unnecessary roughness. The lack of a flag started a social media firestorm on X, with several Bills fans ripping into the referees for allowing Queen to get away with a cheap shot on their QB.
With the NFL dropping the hammer on players who take late shots at quarterbacks, it’s likely Queen will be hearing from the NFL about his actions.
Queen has a history of late hits on QBs; he’s been fined twice this season — $17,389 for a roughing-the-passer hit on Seattle Seahawks QB Sam Darnold in Week 2 and $23,186 for a roughing-the-passer hit on Cleveland Browns QB Dillon Gabriel in Week 6.
The NFL rule book doesn’t expressly state what a third-offense fine is, but given Queen’s track record, one could assume it’ll be significantly higher than the $23,000 fine he had last time.
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