Former Steeler Breiden Fehoko speaks out on defensive struggles: 'This s*** deeper than people at home know'

Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Breiden Fehoko had plenty to say about the team's defensive struggles on social media following Week 13's loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The conversation started as former Steelers guard Trai Essex expressed his disappointment with linebacker Patrick Queen's play. Queen joined the Steelers from the Baltimore Ravens as a free agent in 2024, and the team reportedly signed him to a three-year, $41 million contract — the largest contract the franchise has ever awarded to an external free agent.

Essex, who played with the Steelers from 2005-2011, compared Queen to former Steelers linebackers such as James Farrior, Lawrence Timmons and Ryan Shazier.

"He doesn’t play with that disposition," Essex said on X. "We missed on that signing. And for our main rival to let him leave, shoulda been a sign."

In his second season with the team, Queen, 26, has had 89 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.

Fehoko, who played with the Steelers from 2020 to 2022 and has had multiple stints on the team's practice squad, acknowledged Queen's performance in a response to Essex but pointed to a larger root cause when it comes to the team's defensive struggles.

"Is [Patrick Queen] my boy? Yeah. Could he play better? 100% he’ll agree with that too," Fehoko wrote. "I promise you PQ isn’t the problem. This s*** deeper than people at home know. It ain’t just play calls/scheme. I won’t get into that tho. I got respect for people in that building."

Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin has worked under head coach Mike Tomlin since 2022. The Steelers, who lead the NFL in defensive spending this season at a whopping $160,090,285 price tag, are 28th in the league with 365.1 yards allowed per game and 19th in points allowed.

Fehoko continued:

"All those linebackers you mentioned played in a different day and age of football. It doesn’t help that, the defense that PQ is playing in right now is the same defense decades ago that Farrior, Timmons, & Shazier played in. You can’t expect your best athletes to be the best athletes when you’re running the same stuff Jack Lambert ran. This is the problem when you live in a world of banking on a T.J. Watt strip sack to save the day.

In Sunday's 26-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Steelers' defense allowed 249 rushing yards, which set the record for the most rushing yards allowed at Acrisure Stadium.

Fans could be heard expressing their frustration in the Bills game with boos and "fire Tomlin chants." Tomlin is in his 19th season as the Steelers' head coach, holding a 197–123–2 record with the franchise. The postseason has been a different story; despite having made the playoffs in five of the last eight seasons, Pittsburgh has not won a playoff game since 2016.

The offense has not done much better than the defense. They rank 27th, at 281.7 yards per game. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been dealing with a fractured wrist and called out his wide receivers after a poor offensive performance.

The Steelers' leading receiver on Sunday was tight end Darnell Washington, who had two catches for 45 yards. DK Metcalf, who was acquired by the Steelers during the offseason, had three catches for 32 yards in Sunday's game. Metcalf has only had one game this season with over 100 yards.

The Steelers are 28th in rushing yards this season with 93.8 per game. They only had 58 rushing yards on Sunday, with most of it coming from Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell.

This Sunday, the Steelers will take on the Baltimore Ravens. Both teams are tied atop the AFC North at 6-6.