The Pittsburgh Steelers won on the road in Los Angeles Sunday, defeating the Rams 24-17. The win proved to be a big game for rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. as he seemingly broke through the rookie wall regarding the coaching staff putting restrictions on his snaps, playing a whopping 53 defensive snaps (78%) on Sunday almost double his previous high on the season. Porter was credited with three total tackles and a pass breakup against the Rams. He came in on Pittsburgh’s nickel and dime defenses, kicking CB Patrick Peterson inside to the slot where Porter manned the left cornerback spot opposite Levi Wallace.
So, how did Porter hold up with increased snaps against a pass-happy Rams offensive attack? Let’s check out the tape.
The Film
Much as fellow Steelers Depot contributor Josh Carney broke down in a recent piece on Porter, his play in run defense was a mixed bag when it comes to his tackling. There were several occasions on Sunday against the Rams where Porter fared well coming up in run support like the first clip below where you see him work inside to the gap on the inside run, wrapping up RB Darrell Henderson as teammate OLB Markus Golden gets off his block to both bring him down after breaking past the line of scrimmage for a modest gain on the play.
However, Porter had two bad missed tackles Sunday against the Rams with the first coming on this first play below where he goes low on WR Puka Nacua who turns upfield after making the catch, stopping his feet and dropping his head as Nacua runs through the tackle attempt and takes the ball inside the 10-yard line. On the second missed tackle attempt by Porter, we see him work inside as WR Tutu Atwell goes in motion, getting a clean shot on RB Royce Freeman as he breaks past the line of scrimmage, but again drops his head and shoots his hands forward in a bad position to make the tackle, failing to wrap up as Freeman bounces off the contact and keeps running down the field for a big pickup.
We see Porter get in on more tackle opportunities after his two bad blunders like on this rep where he and DL Larry Ogunjobi both work to bring down Freeman who gets tackled near the line of scrimmage, having Porter come in to clean up the play as Ogunjobi initially wraps up Freeman by the legs. Watching these reps, it’s not that Porter displays a lack of want-to as a tackler, but rather that he needs to clean up his technique by keeping his eyes up to see what he is hitting and properly wrap up opposing ballcarriers with his long arms to stop their forward progress and allow the rest of the defense to converge after he makes first contact.
From a coverage perspective, Porter represented himself far better than he did in run defense, blanketing opposing receivers for most of the game. He did allow this reception to WR Puka Nacua, but Pittsburgh was playing zone coverage as Porter is responsible for the right sideline, working back to the middle of the field to tackle Nacua as Peterson runs up the middle of the field attempting to help S Minkah Fitzpatrick with the receiver running down the seam.
Porter represented himself in man coverage Sunday against the Rams, doing a good job at containing Nacua who gave the rest of the secondary fits on the day. He had a nice pass deflection on him in the first half that you can see below in the first clip, lining up tight across from Nacua in press-man coverage. He gets his hands on him as Nacua attempts to get an inside release, having his right hand behind Nacua as he swats the pass down with his right arm to force the incompletion. We see a similar play by Porter in the second half on a crossing pattern from Nacua as Porter gets on his horse and leaves his feet to play the ball through Nauca’s hands to make sure the pass falls incomplete. The ball is a little outside of Nacua, but Porter shows great effort to contest the pass.
On the one touchdown pass that Pittsburgh’s defense allowed against the Rams, Porter did a good job blanketing his man on the opposite side of the field. Watch as Stafford drops back to pass and Porter locks up Nacua, running with him up the seam. He stays in stride with the receiver as Stafford feels pressure, rolling out to the left and away from Nacua as a potential target. Still, Porter stays with Nacua on the corner route step-for-step as Stafford puts up a pass to the end zone on the left sideline, finding Atwell on a jump ball in front of CB Levi Wallace for the score.
Conclusion
Joey Porter Jr. proved that he belonged as a near full-snap contributor on defense Sunday against the Rams, playing 78% of the defensive snaps. He needs to clean up his tackling going forward, but his play in pass coverage proved to be vital as Pittsburgh had him cover Puka Nacua several times in single coverage as they directed their focus on shutting down WR Cooper Kupp. Porter held his own, showing a real knack for making life difficult on Nacua when the two matched up in man coverage as Porter could use his size and length to overwhelm Nacua at the catch point, minimizing the passing windows to make Stafford’s job that much harder to fit the ball into his intended target.
Porter’s current state as a tackler may be the one thing holding him back from a full-time starting role, but he has proven to be a more reliable coverage defender than both Levi Wallace and Patrick Peterson at this point of the season. He does a better job adjusting to receivers on the move and has more length and the spatial awareness to get his head around and properly contest passes that Wallace and Peterson have been giving up routinely through Pittsburgh’s first six games, seeming like a step behind every time while Porter continues to impress.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to see Porter’s role continue to expand past the 70% snap mark on defense, being a clear asset in pass coverage. The sooner he gets his tackling kinks worked out, the sooner we may see Pittsburgh fully commit to him as a full-time starter on the outside in their base defense, moving either Wallace or Peterson to the bench until Pittsburgh goes to their sub-packages.
