The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off a high scoring win against the Cincinnati Bengals and are now preparing for a rematch against the Cleveland Browns, who they lost to in Week 12 on Thursday Night Football. Offensively, the Steelers rebounded tremendously from the previous week against the Browns with Russell Wilson throwing for 414 yards and three touchdowns in Week 13. Wilson was able to find 10 different receivers to throw to and handled the pressure of a shootout game well, as the Bengals kept responding on offense. Ultimately, the Steelers' defense stepped up with turnovers and stops when they needed to, causing three total turnovers with one being a fumble returned for a touchdown by Payton Wilson. The concern going into the Bengals' game was the high scoring offense led by Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Cornerbacks like Donte Jackson and Joey Porter Jr. needed to step up for that game.
The Steelers' number one cornerback has been able to lockdown opposing wide receivers, but lately he's been drawing many penalty flags -- especially for defensive holding and pass interference. During Week 13 against the Bengals, Porter drew six flags on himself, four being accepted. These flags included two for defensive holding, three for pass interference, and one for illegal use of hands. Some of these penalties set up the Bengals in good field position and Porter's mistakes ultimately led to two Bengals touchdowns. Head Coach Mike Tomlin addressed Porter's penalty issues during his Tuesday press conference leading up to Week 14.
"No tweaks in terms of the approach," Tomlin answered. "Certainly, he could’ve been better from a technical standpoint in review of the tape, some technical things at the line of scrimmage that oftentimes lead to circumstances down the field could be better. But also as I mentioned after the game, a component of that is competing against the likes of Tee Higgins and his style of play. I felt the same way when we played DK Metcalf late last year for example."
Porter was seen matched up against both against Chase and Higgins, some of the best wide receivers in the league. Tomlin expressed how wide receivers with huge builds like that need to be adjusted to so penalties like Porter got won't get called. Some of these penalties could've been avoided as the ball was overthrown or Porter could've made a play instead of grabbing onto the opposing player.
Porter said he felt targeted when he spoke to the media following the Bengals' win. He vowed that the penalties and referees wouldn't alter his play style and that the referees are looking a little too closely at him. CBS' rules analyst Gene Steratore said targeting players isn't what referees do. Tomlin didn't seem too upset with Porter's penalties in his Tuesday press conference, but did create a basketball analogy for Porter's aggressive nature.
“You know when we play Shaq, we’re gonna use our fouls," Tomlin said.
Porter will need to be on his best game through the rest of the season as he still has to face all of his AFC North opponents again and star wide receiver AJ Brown on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15.
Steelers' Porter Will Need To Minimize Penalties Against Browns As He Faces Another Big Receiver
Following the Browns' Monday Night Football game in Week 13 against the Denver Broncos, fans witnessed Jerry Jeudy have a career day with 235 yards and a touchdown. He looked almost unstoppable against his former team, as well as Jameis Winston who threw the ball 58 times and had 497 yards throwing. Jeudy had only 85 reception yards against the Steelers in Week 12, but it was also a very snowy game.
Porter will likely be put on Jeudy for this game and he'll need to minimize his penalties if the Steelers want to split their season series with the Browns. Winston threw three picks against the Broncos on Monday night, so turnovers need to be made by the defense, like they did against the Bengals.
