Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. put the clamps on Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London in Sunday’s 18-10 win, allowing just one reception for seven yards. London finished with two receptions for 15 yards, the other reception came against linebacker Elandon Roberts in zone coverage.
Ray-Ray McCloud was the Falcons leading receiver with four receptions for 52 yards. Kirk Cousins completed 16 of 26 passes for 155 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, and a quarterback rating of 59.0.
Overall, it was a great performance by the defense. The Steelers’ front seven absolutely dominated the Falcons’ offensive line, while the secondary had very few mishaps. The 12-yard touchdown pass by Cousins to tight end Kyle Pitts was the only glaring mistake.
“What was his stat line? You tell me,” Porter told Dale Lolley of the Steelers’ official website when asked if London played in the second half. “Yeah, he did a little warm up today. It was good.”
Porter is the bona fide No. 1 cornerback. He welcomes the opportunity to face the opposing team’s best wideout every week.
“We’ve got the same body types,” Porter said on shadowing London. “That was the main thing.”
Porter declared this offseason that he’s the best cornerback in the NFL. “I don’t care if I am mentioned in there (among the best) or not because they are going to hear my name eventually.”
Porter had a banner rookie campaign in 2023, finishing fifth in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Porter allowed a completion on just 47.4% of his targets in 2023, which was the lowest among all cornerbacks with 50+ targets, according to Pro Football Focus. In addition, Porter only gave up 50+ yards in the air in 2 out of his 17 games during his rookie season.
Porter allowed just one touchdown pass and just 0.76 yards per cover snap in 2023. Travis Etienne’s 56-yard touchdown in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Week 8 win over the Steelers was the only touchdown that Porter allowed, and that came on a busted coverage.
