Getty Ravens ILB Patrick Queen was featured in an unflattering fashion in the first reveal of Madden 24.
One of the biggest fears for most professional athletes is to be posterized by being on wrong side of an iconic moment in sports history or highlight from a given game in a season.
While video games are technically virtually reality, the slight towards Baltimore Ravens starting inside linebacker Patrick Queen at the end of the first trailer Madden 24, the newest version of the popular sports game by EA Sports, was almost as disrespectful as if it actually happened.
In the last seven seconds of the one-minute and 16-second video, cover athlete and franchise quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, Josh Allen, stiff-arms safety Geno Stone and then proceeds to plow through and step over Queen on his way into the end zone for a touchdown.
The Ravens’ former first-round pick didn’t take too kindly the slight nor did he understand why he had to be the one on the receiving end of a posterized moment even if it was in a video game
While Allen is one of the hardest skill players to bring down in the open field regardless of position in the entire league, Queen is one of the fastest and most physical defenders in the league capable of bringing the wood and stopping the vast majority of ball carriers in their tracks, including Allen.
Film Doesn’t Lie & Proves Otherwise
Queen replied to a comment on his initial post that claimed that Allen juked him in the open field, making him miss a tackle when the Ravens and Bills played in Baltimore in Week 4 last season by also stating that he upended the two-time Pro Bowler on a different play from that game.
Ravens team reporter Ryan Mink was kind enough to post the same video evidence as Queen to support his claim and he retweeted the 14-second clip showing him taking down Allen who tried to juke him out in the open field but failed and was tackled for a modest gain.
In a reply to Mink’s tweet, analyst Greg Tompsett who closely cover the Bills posted as sarcastic imagined excuse for a mistake that Queen made later in the game when he lost outside contain on Allen who scrambled for a 11-yard touchdown that would ultimately prove to be the game-winner and an accompanying clip of the play.
While he was guilty of losing contain on that pivotal play in the third quarter of the game, Queen was never ran over by Allen, just ran past and the only player that got juked was three-time Pro Bowl Marlon Humphrey who whiffed on the tackle after the quarterback cut inside at the last second.
Queen finished that game with five total tackles including four solos and one for a loss and logged three hits on Allen as well as blitzer according to Pro Football Reference.
Keep Adding More Fuel to Queen’s Fire
As if the 23-year-old didn’t have enough motivation already heading into the final year of his rookie contract after the team opted to decline his fifth-year option. Now he might just be looking to prove to every quarterback he crosses paths with this year in the open field that he means business and will make them want to think twice before leaving the pocket against the Ravens.
Fortunately for Allen, the two teams aren’t slated to play each other this year in the exhibition or regular season but that could make a potential playoff matchup in mid-to-late January all the more exciting.
The last time the Ravens and Bills faced off in the postseason was the 2020 season and while it resulted in a 17-3 win for Buffalo, Allen was held to just three rushing yards on seven attempts and only threw for 206 yards into swirling winds despite throwing the ball nearly 40 times.
Queen is already coming off his best season to date in 2022 when he set career highs across the board according to PFR. However, with another year offseason of getting familiar with not only defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald’s system but also his running back in the middle of the Ravens’ defense, First-Team All-Pro Roquan Smith, the sky is the limit for his potential impact in 2023.
