The Pittsburgh Steelers are sitting confidently on top of the AFC North at 9-3, ahead of the Baltimore Ravens who have fallen to 8-5 after losing two out of their last three. The Steelers are known for their defense and have been for the past few seasons, but the offense has been getting better each week and put on a show in Week 13 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Pittsburgh's offense had 520 total yards of offense with Russell Wilson throwing for 414 yards, his second highest in his career. Pittsburgh's defense did give up a few chunk plays and 375 total yards of offense, but this was kind of expected from a Joe Burrow-led unit. The Steelers' defense did come away with three turnovers and made bigger plays than the Bengals when needed to, but there was a problem that couldn't be ignored when it came to the penalties.
Joey Porter Jr. is the top cornerback on the Steelers' defense, but lately he's been making a few personal errors in the form of costly penalties. During the Bengals game, Porter drew six flags, with four being accepted penalties. Some of these penalties included defensive pass interference, which set the Bengals up in a good position to score on multiple occasions. Earlier in the week, Head Coach Mike Tomlin defended Porter and said it was more of a technical issue than a play style issue with Porter. Porter continued to get words of advice from Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin during his weekly press conference.
Porter is usually the cornerback to be matched up against some of the best wide receivers in the NFL. With his 6-foot-2 height, Porter matches up with a lot of the receivers in the NFL and has been solid through his first two seasons in Pittsburgh. Porter claimed after the Bengals game that he won't let the referees alter his playing style, despite his six flags. Austin offered some strong advice to the young cornerback during his press conference and gave insight onto how he's been helping Porter.
"It’s just a matter of work," explained Austin. "The thing is, we ask Joey to do a lot, we put him on the backsides sometimes one-on-one with the best receivers or maybe, it may not be the best receiver, but he’s the guy that’s not getting a lot of help. So, some days are going to be rougher than others and so it’s just a matter of getting back in the lab and continuing to play. One of the things I told him, and I always tell corners this, it’s always the next play, because if you get caught in your own mind chasing something that happened a while ago that you can’t fix right now, it doesn’t make any sense. So, let’s move on to the next play, let’s be better this next play and he’s done a good job and I’m sure he’ll bounce back."
Porter's hopeful bounce back game will come against the Cleveland Browns, a quick rematch after the Steelers lost the first outing against the Browns in Week 12. Jerry Jeudy is coming off a historic Week 13 game with 235 receiving yards, so Porter will need to prevent something like that from happening against the Steelers. Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger also believes this will be a good game for Porter as he talked about him during his Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger podcast earlier this week. Roethlisberger noted that every player has bad games and Porter won't let something like the Bengals game happen again.
Steelers' Defense Can Continue Turnover Streak In Week 14
Pittsburgh's defense leads the NFL in turnovers through 13 weeks of the season. They have 25 turnovers, just one above the Buffalo Bills who have 24. Although the Steelers also caused one turnover in their first matchup with the Browns, they have the potential to get even more as Jameis Winston threw three interceptions in Week 13, two of them being pick-sixes.
Donte Jackson is tied for third in the NFL with five interceptions, so he'll be someone to look out for against the Browns. It'll be important for the Steelers' defense to outplay the Browns' defense as Cleveland showed up in the first matchup with four sacks, but the Steelers did cause three turnovers compared to the Browns' one.
