After playing just seven snaps in Week One, fans were hoping to see more of rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. in Week Two. Frankly, he was probably looking to play more, too. While his role didn’t change, still working in dime packages, game circumstance gave him the chance to see a lot more action. And he closed out the win by forcing a fourth-down incompletion.
Let’s dive into a quick film room of his two most notable snaps of the day.
The first came on the Browns’ first true drive of the game following Alex Highsmith’s pick-six on the first play from scrimmage. Cleveland comes out in a 2×2 formation with a reduced split by the Z-receiver to the top of the screen. Porter is playing off coverage in what looks like Cover 3. He bails on the snap and gets depth for his deep-third responsibility. His zone technique reads the route through the quarterback.
As WR Elijah Moore converts his route to a comeback/blaze out after stemming vertically, Porter drives and takes a good angle to the football. He finishes with a great transition and angle to the football, knocking it away and forcing Cleveland settle for a field goal.
Read the quarterback, understand the route, drive on the ball, finish the play. Textbook.
Of course, his biggest play came on his final defensive snap. The Browns down 26-22, fourth and 10, game on the line. Cleveland motions its running back out to empty personnel and it seems like the Steelers are in 1 Rat. Cover 1 with a “rat” in the hole, S Elijah Riley, to rob any crossers at the sticks.
It puts Porter in man coverage against the 6-foot-2 WR Donovan Peoples-Jones. Rolled up tight, Porter is patient with his press and doesn’t open the gate as DPJ shows an inside move off the line. Porter gets a good off-hand jam with his right hand to open up his hips and knock Peoples-Jones off his route. It also helps cut down on the space he has and pins the receiver to the sideline, utilizing it as leverage and essentially as another defender.
He disengages and runs with him down the sideline, getting his head around when Peoples-Jones does. There is some contact here from both sides but nothing flag-worthy. And Porter does a great job of using his length to throw an arm across the receiver’s face to contest the pass thrown into his frame.
The pass is wide and to the outside, falling incomplete as the Steelers secure the win. Here’s the whole rep.
We’ll need the All-22 to further evaluate Porter’s game, but he made big plays in big moments. Pittsburgh is trying to pare down his usage and not put too much on his plate, utilizing him only in dime packages, but it means he’s out there for basically every big-play moment. Third and long, end-of-half, end-of-game. Big-time situational football. Porter responded with big-time plays.
