The Pittsburgh Steelers were in a dogfight against the Washington Commanders Sunday. The game came down to the wire, with the Steelers doing just enough to win. It felt like they were more dominant than the score would indicate. For the most part, they held the Commanders’ potent offense in check. The biggest issue they had was allowing drives to be extended due to penalties. Joey Porter Jr. in particular had a rough outing, but Mike Tomlin isn’t ready to send a message to him yet.
“I don’t know that it is a message,” Tomlin said Tuesday during his weekly news conference via the team’s YouTube channel. “We’re always working to be clean. Last week was last week. He’s done an awesome job for the totality of the season. Usually, it takes two to make a pattern for me before I get active, and so I’m not gonna overreact to last week.”
Coming out of the draft last year, one of Porter’s biggest issues was that he was too grabby. In almost two seasons in the NFL, that problem hasn’t totally dissipated. Up until Week 10, Porter had helped the Steelers more than he hurt them, so it wasn’t such a big deal. That wasn’t exactly the case against the Commanders.
Porter ended up being penalized three times in the game, all proving costly. The first penalty came near the start of the second quarter. The Commanders had the ball at their own 41-yard line, and quarterback Jayden Daniels threw an incomplete pass on first down. However, Porter was called for pass interference, giving the Commanders a free 23 yards.
The Steelers’ defense would ultimately hold the Commanders to a field goal on that drive, but Porter’s penalty helped them put points on the board. The second call came closer to the end of the second quarter. The Commanders were backed up deep in their own territory, and Alex Highsmith sacked Daniels to set up second and long. However, that play did not stand.
Porter was flagged for grabbing an opposing player’s facemask, negating the sack and giving the Commanders 15 yards. It ended up being a 25-yard swing, really hurting the Steelers’ momentum. It wouldn’t be Porter’s last penalty on the drive either.
The Commanders ended up driving all the way down the field, getting right outside the end zone. At that point, the Steelers just wanted to hold them to a field goal. They forced Daniels to throw two incomplete passes on first and second down. However, on that second-down play, Porter was called for pass interference again.
That gave the Commanders the ball at the 1-yard line, along with a fresh set of downs. They proceeded to score a touchdown on the very next play, giving them a 17-14 lead going into halftime.
It wasn’t Porter’s best outing, but like Tomlin said, he’s been a reliable No. 1 corner for the Steelers this year. There’s no reason to overreact to one week of poor play. He’s still only in his second NFL season after all. He has still been too quick to grab receivers, but perhaps he’ll eventually grow out of that.
If he has a similar kind of performance this week against the Baltimore Ravens, then maybe it’s time to panic a little. However, there’s no reason live in a world of hypotheticals. We’ll see if Porter bounces back or continues to struggle.
