It's all fun and games when you win.
But nothing is more infuriating in the sport of football than self-inflicted wounds.
And for Joey Porter Jr. and the Pittsburgh Steelers, those penalties are starting to add up, and while they're costing the team yardage right now, they could be costing them wins in the future:
Joey Porter Jr.'s penalties are coming in bunches
"I'm mad at it," Porter said when asked about the penalties against the Cincinnati Bengals via video from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's YouTube channel. "I'm trying to be great at the end of the day and those flags kind of get in the way. But like Coach [Tomlin] always says, if he's not tripping and my team's not mad about it, then I just gotta keep playing and doing my job. I feel like at this point they're trying to alter my play, but I'm not really worried about that...
"...Some of those calls, I feel like I'm not doing nothing the average [db isn't] doing. I got that target on my back and clearly, I just gotta keep working."
Whether JPJ has a target on his back or not is up for debate, but it's clear that this has become a pattern for the talented young defender. Coming out of Penn State it was his physicality at the line of scrimmage (along with his football pedigree) that made Porter intriguing to not only the Steelers but many NFL teams.
But to quote HC Mike Tomlin, "there's a fine line between drinking wine and squashing grapes," and in 2024 especially, Porter Jr.'s physicality is blurring that line.
So look, there's no easy fix for Porter, even if he's been steadily working on his craft. Asking him to reign in his physicality is like asking a heavyweight boxer to stay away from his right hook. But it's clear that if he continues to grab past five yards, or fails to get his head around, or impedes a WRs catch point, it's going to come back to bite Pittsburgh at an inopportune time.
