After a month of slow-playing his role in dime packages only, the Pittsburgh Steelers finally relented and played rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. in a more expansive role. Starting late in the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens, Porter played in all situations. Pittsburgh’s base 3-4, nickel, and dime.
It was a decision overdue and one that paid off. Porter picked off an end-zone jump ball intended for veteran WR Odell Beckham Jr., a tide-turning play that gave the Steelers new life and served as a catalyst for them winning the game.
So Porter got the shot. And he made the play. For Pittsburgh, there’s no going back. That toothpaste is out of the tube.
How it looks going forward is a little fuzzy. In fairness, it’s easy to say “play Porter” and forget about the rest. There’ still a depth chart to be figured out. But the Steelers have a bye week and plenty of time to rearrange things. Playing Porter could mean more slot work for Patrick Peterson. It may mean bumping Peterson to right corner. Itmay mean reducing his snap count entirely. Essentially, the Steelers did all three of those things in just over a quarter of action to close out Sunday’s game.
But Porter’s gotta play. However that needs to get done, it’ll get done.
That’s not to say Porter will be perfect. He’s a rookie corner. A little rough around the edges, a press-man corner who didn’t look comfortable doing much else in college. But he’s grown. He’s absolutely worked hard, that much was evident from early in camp when he’d be the first man on the field. He’s worked on his hands, they’re an asset, and he’s not just winning in press-man situations. He’s improved in off-man and zone. While a willing tackler, he must show better technique and results, though the entire cornerback room has struggled to get defenders on the ground this year. Porter isn’t replacing Antoine Winfield over here.
At this point, it seems unthinkable the team would even consider reducing Porter’s role to what it was. There was value in limiting his snap exposure, focusing just on the passing game, and the high-leverage situations he played in (third and long, end of half/game) allows you to grow up fast. The problem Pittsburgh ran into was playing Porter only in dime packages let opposing offense and game circumstances dictate his snap count too often. Seven snaps in the opener against San Francisco, 10snaps in Week Four’s loss to Houston, just four first-half snaps Sunday against Baltimore.
When offenses could stay out of those obvious-pass situations, it glued Porter to the bench. At some point, you can’t let offenses dictate how much your talented corner plays. You just have to play him and let him impact the game. That’s what Pittsburgh did. Maybe they were slow to the moment. But they’re here now. There’s no going back.
