When the Cincinnati Bengals needed a big play Sunday, they went after CB Joey Porter Jr., who had one of the worst showings you’ll see from a corner with a whopping six total penalties yesterday afternoon. Predictably, the data-crunchers over at PFF didn’t grade Porter well for his outing, giving him the lowest mark of his career.
Porter scored a 32.4 overall defensive grade against the Bengals, the worst in his two NFL seasons. Surprisingly, there were others close to it, grading at 32.8 against the Indianapolis Colts earlier this year. Entering Monday night, he is the 93rd ranked corner out of 94 qualifiers. Only Miami Dolphins UDFA Storm Duck posted a worse figure, and it’ll take a lot for anyone in the Cleveland Browns or Denver Broncos’ secondary tonight to dip lower.
The penalties came in bunches. Two in the second quarter, four in the fourth quarter. Porter was called for:
– Four defensive pass interferences
– One defensive holding
– One illegal hands to the face
Only – which is doing a lot of heavy lifting here – four of them were officially accepted. The holding and illegal hands were declined, the former because Porter also committed DPI on the play that was accepted. A rare two-fer for a defensive back.
Porter’s six total penalties are the most by a cornerback in more than two years. The last to do it was Detroit Lions’ corner Amani Oruwariye in Week 3 of the 2022 season, flagged six times in a loss to the Minnesota Vikings. That day, he was flagged four times for illegal contact, once for pass interference, once for holding.
While Porter’s penalties are an obvious problem, they’ve strangely come in bunches. Of his 14 total flags, 12 of them have been concentrated to just three games. He had three against the Denver Broncos, three against the Washington Commanders, and the six Sunday against Cincinnati. Meaning, in his other nine games, he’s been flagged just twice. Perhaps it’s a mental thing where one mistake spirals him. Maybe the refs start locking in on him once he commits the first foul. It could be more ticky-tack crews not letting him get away with what another official might let go.
After the game, Mike Tomlin also implied the game plan was to be physical with WR Tee Higgins. Fight fire with fire. But Porter came out on the wrong end of things.
No matter the reason, it’s a recurring problem of his game. Porter has shown he can play clean and go stretches without penalities. He’ll always walk a fine line between using his size and length to his advantage and playing clean. But there are so many instances where he’s in acceptable position, panics, and commits a penalty. Like this end zone takedown that was completely unnecessary if he just plasters and finds the ball that’s sailing over everyone’s heads.
Here’s a compilation of all six of his penalties. You could argue one of them was a questionable call, the back-shoulder throw to Higgins felt borderline, but everything else is on Porter.
His job isn’t easy. The life of a No. 1 corner provides no weeks off. Everyone has a good receiver. Even teams with bad quarterbacks are stocked at wideout. Porter is still talented, provides value and can make plays. Cover corners like him don’t always get the credit for discouraging throws. Those don’t show up on stat sheets.
But Porter has to find consistency with his technique and stop panicking mid-route. Or like George Pickens, these penalties will cost the Steelers come playoff time.
