Both the Ravens and Steelers enter Sunday afternoon’s game with seven wins, so there’s a lot at stake before we even dive into individual storylines.

One of the juicier subplots on that front involves Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen. Queen spent his first four seasons with the Ravens but signed with the Steelers as a free agent this offseason and said this week that the Ravens never offered a deal that would have kept him in Baltimore.

Queen said he “will have feelings” during Sunday’s game as a result and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin hopes to channel those feelings into a positive outcome for his team.

“I’m going to send him out for the coin toss, if that gives you any indication,” Tomlin told Bob Labriola of the team website. “The motivation is good. We are human and everyone wants to feel wanted. And so I imagine it’s not just a motivation this week, but it’s probably been a motivation for him every week. Especially those with whom you do business, who you work shoulder to shoulder with every day, want to be appreciated. And of course they chose to go in a different direction. And when you have a good attitude and you’re mature and mature about it, you use that as good fuel, as motivation and focus, and that’s what I’ve discovered about PQ since he’s been here. He has turned what is apparently a negative point into a positive one, because it motivates him every day to get the best out of himself and have a good relationship with us.”

The Ravens and Queen know each other well and the team that can better use that to their advantage should have the edge in Sunday’s battle for pole position in the AFC North.