The Pittsburgh Steelers escaped Week 13 with a road win over the Cincinnati Bengals, but it wasn't thanks to Joey Porter Jr. The second-year cornerback showcased sloppy technique and overaggressive play that led to a whopping six penalties called against him (two of which were declined).
These penalties kept the chain moving for the Bengals' offense. Two of these calls against Porter came in the endzone and gave Joe Burrow and company a fresh set of downs at the one-yard line -- which they would ultimately punch in for touchdowns.
It's fair to say that Porter's despicable performance in Week 13 helped aid Pittsburgh's opponent in scoring 31 offensive points. Remarkably, this is the third time this season that Porter has been called for at least three penalties in a game.
But instead of trying to fix an obvious problem, Mike Tomlin's message to Porter essentially is: 'Keep doing what you're doing'.
Coach Tomlin spoke to the media for his weekly Tuesday press conference ahead of Pittsburgh's matchup against the Browns. When asked about Porter, Tomlin insisted that he does not want Porter to turn down his physicality.
"You have to match physicality with their big people," Tomlin said. "Something we won't do is allow them to just catch the ball. When we play Shaq, we're going to use our fouls."
This is an odd analogy. If the Steelers had fouls to give like in basketball, Porter would have been fouled out of this game in the second half.
Steelers need a new approach to fix Joey Porter Jr.s issues
While I understand where Tomlin is coming from, I don't agree with the hands-off approach of not trying to fix the underlying issues. Simply put, Porter is far too aggressive, and he needs to dial it back.
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If the talented cornerback were to have a six-penalty game in the playoffs, that would be all she wrote for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the postseason this year. A performance similar to the one we saw in Cincinnati or in Week 10 in Washington would drive the final nail in the coffin of Pittsburgh's postseason.
That's why things have to change... and they have to change in a hurry.
Instead of tugging on wide receivers' jerseys all the way down the field and at the top of routes, Porter needs to be selective in his aggressiveness. Just like good wide receivers know when to subtly push off to create a bit of extra space, the best cornerbacks in the business know when they can get away with a subtle jab to the chest or tug of the jersey.
Porter is better than his grabby play would suggest. Though he's never going to have great hands as a defensive back, he needs to trust his positioning and length to disrupt passing windows instead of feeling like he needs to interfere with the receiver.
Unfortunately, Porter has regressed since his rookie season in 2023, and every officiating crew is aware of his overaggressive play style at this point. I agree with Tomlin in that Porter shouldn't cast his physical style aside. But if he wants to improve, he needs to be more disciplined with his hands and trust his football ability to keep opposing wide receivers in check.
Without these changes, we will continue to see much of the same down the stretch and into the playoffs -- a high-variance cornerback who is one of the most peanalized players in the NFL.