For years, Joey Porter Jr. got to watch up close the famed Pittsburgh Steelers-Baltimore Ravens rivalry, thanks to the integral part that his father, Joey Porter Sr., played in the rivalry for the Black and Gold.
On Sunday, Porter Jr. will get to immerse himself into the rivalry for the first time as a player at Acrisure Stadium as the Steelers and Ravens clash at 1 p.m. in the week Five matchup.
It’s a big matchup for both teams as the Steelers are looking to get back on track following a frustrating 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans on the road in Week Four, while the Ravens look to put a stranglehold on the AFC North division race with a third win within the difficult division.
“It’s like a regular season game, but it’s not played like a regular season game. Like [Coach Tomlin] always says, this is a big game for everybody,” Porter said to reporters Wednesday, according to video via Steelers.com. “It’s a division game, it’s a rivalry that goes deep, deep, deep in the past. So we gotta bring that energy and play.”
It’s certainly a big game for the Steelers, who are under quite a bit of scrutiny at the moment. After getting their doors blown off by the Texans on the road, head coach Mike Tomlin promised changes offensively after yet another lackluster performance from the Steelers’ offense, along with a sloppy showing from the defense.
Turns out, those changes weren’t from a personnel or coaching perspective. Rather, they were about how the Steelers practice throughout the week. The Steelers were in pads on Wednesday to get their physical element back while being ready for the tough matchup with the Ravens, which is always a knockdown, drag-out fight historically.
Porter Jr. is looking forward to experiencing it as a player, especially a matchup that is going to be quite physical and likely rather chippy.
“Probably,” Porter Jr. said when asked if he thinks it’ll get chippy Sunday at Acrisure. “Just because like I said earlier, just off the rivalry and the history behind these two teams and the battles that we’ve always had. So it’s definitely going to be a chippy game.”
The Steelers better be ready to answer the bell against the AFC North rivals, who look like a legitimate Super Bowl contender through the season’s first four weeks. If it’s going to be chippy, the Steelers need to be the ones with the chip and being the bullies, rather than getting pushed around and needing to respond.
