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In a Saturday slate of football games filled with unfortunate injuries, the Pittsburgh Steelers suffered one of their own to starting outside cornerback Joey Porter Jr., who left the game versus the Baltimore Ravens with a calf injury.
Starting the game in his usual spot, Porter went down in the third quarter with an apparent leg injury. He tried to play through it, making his return on the following drive, but was ultimately ruled out for the remainder of the games as the clock wound down in the third, leaving the team to rely on their depth at the position moving forward.
Coming into the game with an already diminished defensive backfield, with CJ Henderson and Ryan Watts on IR and both Donte Jackson and DeShon Elliott ruled out for the game before it began, the Steelers have been forced to play both 2023 seventh-round pick Cory Trice Jr. and James Pierre at outside cornerback to close things out against the Ravens alongside Damontae Kazee, and Minkah Fitzpatrick.
So far, the Steelers diminished defensive secondary hasn't marked disaster for Mike Tomlin's squad, as Lamar Jackson's seeming inability to put up huge numbers against Pittsburgh has been on full display in Week 16. Still, It feels incredibly unlikely that Jackson will finish out the game with just 158 yards, his total through three quarters, especially if the Steelers can even things up at 24 all. With clear targets at both perimeter corner spots both in the passing game and on outside zone runs, the Ravens may have just found the advantage needed to get their first win of the season against their arch-rivals.
Will Porter Jr. miss extended time down the stretch? Only time will tell, but if he does, it could seriously impact the Steelers' passing defense moving forward, which has already been their weakness on that side of the ball when compared to their incredibly stout rushing defense.
