After resting several starters and curtailing playing time for those who did suit up, the Pittsburgh Steelers are likely to treat their second preseason game of 2024 to a tune-up before the regular season. Though Mike Tomlin hasn’t held his pre-game press conference to offer more detail on his game plan against the Buffalo Bills Saturday night, he told reporters Wednesday all able bodies will play. That includes CB Joey Porter Jr., named as one-half of the matchup to watch against Buffalo this weekend.
Pro Football Focus’ Mason Cameron tabbed Porter against Bills WR Keon Coleman as the top battle.
“Building chemistry between Josh Allen and Coleman is a priority for this team, and a positive step forward this week will help establish the rookie as the Bills’ top option in the passing game.
Porter is again the name to watch out of Pittsburgh this week. The young cornerback got a bit unlucky in his outing last week, being knocked for a touchy pass interference call, but has otherwise flashed his patented sticky press-man coverage.”
Joey Porter logged 11 defensive snaps in the Steelers’ preseason opener against the Houston Texans. He was targeted twice, the pass interference mentioned above and an incompletion on a slant. Porter had a generally quiet but inoffensive training camp as he heads into his second NFL season and first as the Steelers’ starter out of the gate. He’s expected to shadow opposing top receivers, including guys like Coleman.
Porter had a strong rookie season, improving his zone coverage and tackling while playing high-end man coverage. Per our charting, he allowed just one touchdown and had a QB rating against of 53.0.
Resetting their offense, the Bills traded away Stefon Diggs and drafted Coleman in the second round. With elite size at 6-3, 213 pounds, Coleman is a contested catch and downfield threat, finding the end zone 11 times on just 50 receptions in his final season at Florida State. He caught one pass for 8 yards in Buffalo’s preseason opener to the Chicago Bears.
It has the makings of a marquee matchup. Coleman and Porter bring great size to their position,s and a jump ball or go route would make for one heck of a moment. Pittsburgh and Buffalo will kick off Saturday at 7 PM/EST.
