Pittsburgh Steelers rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. has made a habit of traveling with opponents’ top receiving threats and trying to take them out of the game. More often than not, he’s been able to do so when he’s in coverage, and against the Seattle Seahawks, his matchup will likely be D.K. Metcalf. Metcalf has 60 receptions for 998 yards and eight touchdowns this season, and he’s coming off a game in which he had four receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown in a win over the Tennessee Titans. During his media session today, Metcalf talked about potentially matching up with Porter Sunday in Seattle.
“He’s a very smart corner. For him, just being a rookie, he’s made a lot of plays and taken on a lot of big receivers. So he’s gonna be a fun matchup just going against him, knowing his dad was a heck of a football player for the same organization. So I think it’s gonna be a good matchup,” Metcalf said via the Seahawks’ YouTube channel.
Porter has emerged as Pittsburgh’s top corner, and while he has a tendency to get too grabby and has been flagged for 13 penalties this season, he’s taken the other team’s top guy out of the game more often than not. He was lockdown against Tee Higgins when he was covering him in Week 15, and he’s taken guys like DeAndre Hopkins out of games this season.
At this point, Porter has proven himself, and other receivers around the league, like Metcalf, are seeing it. Both guys are big, physical players, so it’s a matchup where Porter is going to have to be careful not to get flagged, but he can focus on doing what he’s done all season and try to take Metcalf out of the game.
Seattle has other weapons at receiver, namely veteran Tyler Lockett and rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba, so it’s going to take a team effort to try and limit Seattle’s passing attack. But Metcalf is the star of the group and containing the 6-4, 235-pounder will go a long way toward keeping the Seahawks off the board and not letting them beat Pittsburgh through the air.
Metcalf is averaging 16.6 yards per reception this year, and he’s the type of receiver who can flip the field with just one catch. Limiting him downfield is going to be the key for Porter and the Steelers, and it just might be the rookie’s biggest test yet. We’ll see if he can rise to the occasion like he has many times before.
