The Pittsburgh Steelers may have had reasons to second-guess the Joey Porter Jr. trade when it happened, but Week 8 made that deal look a lot easier to stomach.
While Pittsburgh was rolling to a 21-point win over the Cleveland Browns and holding an AFC rival that came in at 5-2 to just six points, Dallas was busy putting up another defensive mess in a game it badly needed. The Cowboys, sitting at 3-4, hosted the 2-5 Arizona Cardinals in what looked like a must-win spot. Dak Prescott and the offense did enough to score 30 points in regulation, but the defense gave up 33 points and 467 yards in an overtime loss.
Porter, for his part, had little to do with the collapse. He’s been excellent since landing in Dallas, and his individual work only sharpens the bigger point: even a corner playing at a high level can’t patch over a defense this broken.
Through his first three games with the Cowboys, the press-man corner allowed just 10 yards on nine targets. In Week 8, he kept it going, giving up only one catch on two targets for nine yards, according to Pro Football Focus [$]. He also drew a penalty, his third in four games with Dallas, but that’s the kind of blemish a team can live with when a corner is erasing his assignment.
The problem is everything around him. Arizona still threw for 265 yards even after Jacoby Brissett gave way to Gardner Minshew in the middle of the game, and the Cardinals also gashed Dallas for 202 rushing yards. Porter can lock down the receiver in front of him; he can’t clean up that kind of damage by himself.
That’s what makes the Steelers’ side of this trade look even better right now. Pittsburgh’s defense has been humming, and the Browns managed only six points while averaging 5.5 net yards per dropback, much of that coming after the game had already gotten away from them.
The Steelers also had other defenders turn in strong outings, with PFF crediting Asante Samuel Jr. for allowing no receptions on three targets, Daylen Everette for one catch and two yards on one target, and Jamel Dean for 31 yards on seven targets [$].
Porter has been one of Dallas’ best players since the move, but the Cowboys’ defense remains a mess. And as Pittsburgh keeps stacking wins, that trade is looking less like a loss and more like one the Steelers can laugh about.
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