One of the key matchups going into the game against the Seattle Seahawks was rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. against WR DK Metcalf. Porter told the media last week that he had that matchup circled on his calendar. Porter has been afforded the opportunity to shadow some of the league’s top receivers this season. It started in Week Nine when he followed DeAndre Hopkins around the field and limited him to one reception for 17 yards. He has also had good games against Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Amari Cooper, among others.
Head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about Porter’s game against Metcalf and some big forced incompletions late in the game during his weekly press conference.
“He doesn’t run from the fight, he runs to the fight,” Tomlin said Monday in a video of the press conference posted on the Steelers’ YouTube page. “He always wants to be in the big matchup and in the big moment. [I] respect that about his approach. Mindset has a lot to do with success, and so he is trending and developing and growing in all the right ways.”
Metcalf got the better of Porter on a couple plays early in the game, the first receiver he shadowed this year to do so. But Porter clamped down late when it mattered most and had a pass breakup late in the game in the back of the end zone. According to Next Gen Stats, Metcalf was the first receiver this season to gain over 40 yards while covered by Porter. Porter shadowed Metcalf on 26 of his 32 routes run and allowed three receptions on six targets for 86 yards. He played press coverage on 26.9 percent of those snaps.
Porter also had to deal with Metcalf’s blocking abilities throughout the game. That is a tough matchup for anybody to deal with given Metcalf’s 6-4, 236-pound frame, but Porter managed to draw a holding call to negate a 24-yard run by Kenneth Walker III.
“Getting challenged in big moments, and standing up against those challenges is just a component of his growth and maturation process and displaying the type of player that he needs to be and wants to be, and is becoming,” Tomlin said.
Porter sustained an injury that briefly held him out of play, but he returned and played good football down the stretch of the game. Notably, he did not get called for any holding or pass interference calls, which has been one of the lone blemishes on his rookie resume.
