Let’s get physical: Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles will be a titanic duel with two teams leading their division and trying to secure a spot in the playoffs this week.

And it’s the type of play that linebacker Patrick Queen loves.

“That’s why I’m in the league, period,” Queen said. “I think when you sign up to play football you want to play at the highest level. I don’t think you love the sport if you don’t see it that way.”

“I love this game. I love playing the game the right way and I think the next few games will show that and it starts with the Eagles.”

While the Eagles have several threats on the Steelers defense, including quarterback Jalen Hurts, it all starts with Saquon Barkley.

Queen knows a good running back when he sees one and says the best he’s faced so far is the Browns’ Nick Chubb.

But he said Barkley is the man setting the league on fire this year.

“I think Saquon has the title this year,” Queen said. “You see what he does. He is unstoppable at the moment. If he puts him in space, he’s able to break tackles and stuff like that.”

“Just an all-around good defender. Elusive. Strong. Can make multiple players miss at the same time. So he’s definitely my number one in the league at the moment.”

And that shouldn’t be a surprise.

Barkley leads the NFL with 1,623 yards rushing this season with four games remaining. He’s also on pace to break Eric Dickerson’s NFL record of 2,105 receiving yards set in 1984.

The Steelers don’t want him to get anywhere near that number this week.

“This is huge,” Queen said. “It’s been a while since this happened. Him finding a new team and getting to this part of his career is something you don’t see. That’s hats off to his teammates, his offensive coordinator, his line.”, he. The boys are doing a good job.

“You have to go out there and play physical football to stop it.”

“I love that (physical aspect) every week. It’s different with this team. They have big guys up front. Saquon is a great defender. What he’s doing is crazy. “Just making sure the guys miss when they’re at the front,” from him. You never know what you’re going to get from him.

“That’s what I meant by physical violence. You have to take the fight to them.”

And that’s the plan for Sunday. It’s not about stopping Barkley, because that’s a big task. It’s about slowing him down, and there’s only one way to do it.

“Everyone has to do their job,” Queen said. “That’s really all that matters. I think some teams just don’t realize how good Saquon is. That’s what you have to focus on, especially a guy like that, a team like that. Everyone has to do their job.”