Though it’s not the regular season, CB Joey Porter Jr.’s NFL debut will be one to remember. Late in the first half of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, Porter picked off Bills’ QB Matt Barkley, setting up the Steelers in scoring range.
Here’s a look at the moment.
It was a poor throw by Barkley but Porter squeezed the throw underneath and finished the play. With just one interception at Penn State, some questioned Porter’s hands coming out of college. But he caught passes every day at camp, one of the first players on the JUGS machine before practice, and his work paid off. He picked off a pair of passes in training camp and netted his first pick inside a stadium tonight.
After celebrating with his teammates, Porter Jr. pointed to the crowd at his family, including his mom and Joey Porter Sr., who played and coached for the Steelers for many years. Proud parents, for sure. The KDKA cameras also caught Porter Jr. tossing the ball to his father, the two high-fiving each other for the great moment.
The interception set up a Mitch Trubisky short touchdown to Connor Heyward. Chris Boswell tacked on the extra point to make it 21-0 at the half.
Speaking to Steelers.com’s Missi Matthews later in the game, Patrick Peterson said it was a special moment.
“To see Joey get his first one here in front of our fans is unbelievable. Had great technique. Shoved the receiver out of bounds, got his head back around to great his first interception as a Pittsburgh Steelers,” he said.
Then he smiled and added.
“Although, it don’t really count but he still got his first interception.”
The Steelers have dominated the Bills in the first half of this game. Jaylen Warren struck first with a 62-yard TD down the left sideline to open the scoring. Later, Calvin Austin had a 54-yard punt return that set up a 25-yard touchdown to TE Pat Freiermuth the following play.
