The 24 hours leading up to Thursday Night Football have been a circus for Pittsburgh Steelers fans. As we try so desperately to focus on the objective ahead and dissect whether Mike McCarthy's team can advance to 3-1 with another big divisional win, we're bombarded with sideshow distractions and a blockbuster trade.
Football fans everywhere woke up to news of a Joey Porter Jr. trade. This was a long time coming after months of trade speculation that really started to heat up as of late.
And suddenly, Mike Tomlin is breaking the internet, but for the last reason we could have expected. All of this is happening as the Steelers are in Cleveland to face the 2-1 Browns. Let's break it all down.
Steelers trade CB Joey Porter Jr. to Cowboys
We've been hearing Joey Porter Jr. trade whispers for a while now, and we shouldn't be shocked to see the Dallas Cowboys be the team willing to pull the trigger on a deal. Since May 2025, the Cowboys have now executed three trades with the Steelers, including trading for wide receiver George Pickens and offensive tackle Broderick Jones.
Now the Cowboys get their CB1 for their ailing defense. And what do the Steelers get in return? A sixth-round pick in 2027 and a second-round pick in the 2028 NFL Draft.
There have been reports that Omar Khan and the front office were unwilling to budge on getting a second-rounder. While this probably feels underwhelming to most fans—especially considering this second-round selection won't come until April 2028—it's better than letting him walk away for nothing.
Surprisingly, the Cowboys were willing to trade for Porter before working out a long-term extension—which means he could technically hit free agency next offseason if they don't use the franchise tag on him. Believe it or not, there's a path where both teams wind up losers of this trade in the end.
Mike Tomlin's virtual Minecraft city goes viral
If I'd given you 100 guesses a week ago about what we'd be talking about as the Pittsburgh Steelers are hours away from kickoff, you probably wouldn't have guessed this. Former head coach Mike Tomlin has been busy with his new analyst role with NBC for Football Night in America. But it was his Minecraft stream that had everyone losing their minds.
Tomlin showed off his elaborate Minecraft city and detailed his construction. In the first 12 hours alone, Tomlin's video had over 650,000 views on YouTube. At points, the video, which went live at 8 pm ET, had between 20,000 and 25,000 concurrent viewers watching live.
Tomlin noted that his obsession with the popular video game started with family bonding time when his children were in middle school. What's wild is that Tomlin's Minecraft world has a save file that was preserved and passed on from PlayStation 3 to PS4 to eventually PS5.
These days, Tomlin uses Minecraft as a creative outlet, but it's clear this leisure family time activity evolved into a full-blown obsession. Now Steelers fans can only be left guessing how much Minecraft the former head coach played while his team was on its nine-year playoff drought.
Steelers vs. Browns on Thursday Night Football
Lost in the shadow of the Porter trade news—and even the Tomlin Minecraft stream—is the fact that the Steelers have a pivotal Week 4 matchup tonight on Thursday Night Football.
This game is being held in Cleveland... and history doesn't bode well for the Steelers.
Pittsburgh is 0-9 all-time on the road in divisional Thursday night matchups. When you break it down further, the Steelers have lost four straight games in Cleveland while failing to put up a single 20-point game in any of these contests.
This is a new year with a new head coach, so we're hoping they can break this road Thursday Night Football curse. If the Steelers pull off a win against the Browns on a short week, they'll advance to 3-1 as Cleveland would fall to 2-2.
Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. ET tonight. The game will stream exclusively on Prime Video. Local fans can watch on television via WTAE (Channel 4) in Pittsburgh or WEWS (Channel 5) in Cleveland.
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