Are there any parents out there that have successfully taught their child to ride a bicycle or to hit a baseball off a tee? That’s how Pittsburgh Steelers CB Patrick Peterson felt after his teammate and mentee rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. secured his first career interception in the NFL.
Porter made a huge play when Pittsburgh needed it most in the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens. Picking off a pass from QB Lamar Jackson in the end zone intended for WR Odell Beckham Jr., Porter gave Pittsburgh the ball back with a chance to go down and score. The Steelers ended up doing that to take the lead and win the tightly contested game against their AFC North archrival, 17-10. Peterson spoke about the play on his most recent edition of the All Things Covered podcast, telling show co-host Bryant McFadden that he couldn’t be prouder of Porter for making a play to help turn the tide of the game.
“So, I’m looking at the Jumbotron, I say, ‘Oh, Joey got a pick!’” Peterson said on All Things Covered, which aired on the show’s YouTube channel. “And I just went over there. He was so excited. He was just celebrating with everybody… I had to wait till he got to the sideline. But I was just so happy for him because we’ve worked that drill so much and I’ve seen him make that play routinely in practice so much. So, I wasn’t surprised at all.”
With the ball on Pittsburgh’s own five-yard line, the scenario eerily resembled the same situation the Steelers create in training camp called Seven Shots where they place the ball on the two-yard line and the offense and defense square off for seven plays, seeing who will win the best of seven series as the offense attempts to get into the end zone while the defense tries to keep them out. Porter represented himself well in Seven Shots throughout training camp, having make an interception on a similar play back in Latrobe. He managed to take that experience into a stadium, picking off a former MVP while covering a former All-Pro for his first career interception.
“That was very nice to see Joey make that play in that moment in the game to eventually help us win that ball game,” Peterson said.
Peterson called Porter the player of the game in the locker room to the media following the 17-10 victory, stating that the Steelers needed a play to keep them in it with Baltimore knocking on the door to take a two-score lead and effectively end the game. Porter managed to do just that, catalyzing a chain of events that led to Pittsburgh coming out of Sunday with a win in a game it had no business winning based on the first three-and-a-half quarters of play. Porter was a hero and stamped his legacy on the Steelers-Ravens rivalry in his very first game against Baltimore. With the bye week up next, hopefully Porter’s heroics will earn him more snaps in the coming weeks as he continues to grow into the player he can become in this league.
