Joey Porter Jr. wanted DeAndre Hopkins. He got him and stood up in the moment. Asking Mike Tomlin to travel and shadow Hopkins throughout this game, something the Steelers almost never do, Porter shut Hopkins down all night. The plays Hopkins made were against zone or on other receivers. When Porter faced him, Hopkins didn’t do much.
The stats tell that story. Per NextGen Stats, Porter aligned over Hopkins on 26 of his 36 routes Thursday night. Over three-quarters of the time, Porter was in press coverage. Against Porter, Hopkins had just one reception for 17 yards on five targets.
In the football world, we call that the “clamps.”
Hopkins finished the game with four catches for 60 yards. But his production halted after halftime. In the second half, Hopkins did not catch a pass and he was taken away on the Titans’ final possession, Tennessee trying to take the lead with seconds left. Instead, QB Will Levis had to look to other options to try and get the job done. In the end, LB Kwon Alexander picked him off on the goal line and ended the game.
It’s been a fast rise for Porter. Over the first month of his NFL season, the Steelers only used him in dime packages, except for a handful of snaps when Levi Wallace was injured in the Week Three win over the Las Vegas Raiders. In Week Five, the team began to expand his role and in Week Eight, Sunday afternoon, he earned his first start. Now, he earned his first big-time assignment and passed.
The only knocks on him were penalties, albeit one that was questionable on Hopkins on fourth down late in the game. He was also flagged twice on the first drive, both coming on the same play, for being offsides and illegal hands to the face when he was eager to jam Hopkins. But the mark of a good corner is one with a short memory, and Porter bounced back, taking away the deep ball all game. Hopkins caught three touchdowns in Week Eight, winning downfield against talented Atlanta Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell. Porter wouldn’t let Hopkins replicate that success.
With him erasing Hopkins, perhaps the Steelers will let Porter travel and shadow in the future. Patrick Peterson has experience at both cornerback spots and can flip around, making travelling as feasible as it was Thursday night. Most importantly, the Steelers have something special in Porter, who is still only eight games into what looks to be a long and prosperous career.
