Prior to Wednesday’s trade sending cornerback Joey Porter Jr. from the Steelers to the Cowboys, there were reports of interest in Porter from other teams as well.
The Lions were one of the teams mentioned in those reports and head coach Dan Campbell confirmed them during a Friday press conference.
Campbell said, via multiple reporters, that the Lions were “very much in on” Porter prior to Pittsburgh’s deal with Dallas. He said everything has to “align” for a deal to reach the finish line, however, and the Cowboys were able to get there first by sending a pair of draft picks to the Steelers.
The Lions’ interest in cornerback help is easy to understand. The release of Terrion Arnold left them without an expected starter in the defensive backfield and it stands to reason that they’ll continue looking at possible ways to bolster the group ahead of the trade deadline.
Steelers Clips
On Sunday, the Ravens and the Cowboys provided stark examples on how to handle, and how not to handle, the final seconds of a close game in light of the current kickoff rules.
The Steelers and the Browns apparently learned nothing from it.
After the Browns failed to work the clock down to the final few seconds before what became the game-winning field goal, 10 seconds remained.
Like the Cowboys in Rio, the Browns kicked into the end zone, giving the Steelers the ball at the 35. (A cutaway to Browns coach Todd Monken seemed to reveal his dismay.) It opened the door for the Steelers, who had a timeout in hand, to try to gain just enough yardage to allow for a field goal that would have forced overtime.
From the TV copy, it appeared that the Browns were playing the same kind of outside leverage that the Cowboys deployed when the Ravens, who had only seven seconds to work with, gained 27 yards and kicked the walk-off field goal. That gave the Steelers a shot at completing a pass in the middle of the field.
But the Steelers didn’t call a play that would have entailed a quick throw for a moderate gain and a shot at a field goal.
Instead, quarterback Aaron Rodgers rolled to his right, looking to uncork a long throw. The pass, which came back to earth just inside the Cleveland 20, was intercepted. Game over.
Why not try for a 20- to 30-yard gain? Quick decision, quick throw. If it works, take the time out and try the field goal. If it doesn’t, let Rodgers try to connect on another Thursday night miracle.
Coach Mike McCarthy (or Rodgers himself) inexplicably opted for a middle ground, with a long throw that, if it had connected, possibly would have allowed for a time out and a short field goal.
The decision made no sense. The Steelers could have had two shots — a shorter attempt to put them in field goal range for overtime and, if that failed (without an interception), a Hail Mary to win it.
The 2025 shift of the touchback point from the 30 to the 35 has significantly altered the available strategies for the final 10-15 seconds of a game. The Browns repeated the Cowboys’ mistake by conceding the 35, and the Steelers failed to try to seize upon the very real possibility of using the final 10 seconds to gain enough ground to send it into overtime.
Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt had a sack, two tackles for loss, a pass deflection and two quarterback hits on Thursday night, but he was not happy with the defensive effort in the 27-24 loss to the Browns.
After the Steelers tied the game 24-24 with 1:42 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Browns went 36 yards on seven plays to move into range for the game-winning field goal. Watt said that led to the Steelers losing a game they should have won.
“To sit here and not be 3-1 isn’t acceptable,” Watt said, via Steelers.com. “Obviously, it’s a long season, a lot left to go, but we just have to put it together. Even at the end of the game, it was way too easy [for the Browns] getting down the field and getting in [field goal] range. Just have to look at everything and move forward.”
The Steelers’ next three games are against teams with losing records -- the Colts, Buccaneers and Saints -- and then they have a rematch with the Browns. The schedule sets up for Pittsburgh to go on a run, but Watt knows the defense needs to play better.
The Steelers traded cornerback Joey Porter Jr. to the Cowboys less than 24 hours before their Week 4 game at Cleveland. After the 27-24 loss, coach Mike McCarthy was asked whether the timing of the move had a negative impact on the team.
“You know, I mean, that’s really, you know, a question that’s really specific to individuals, and I can’t really speak on every individual,” McCarthy said. “You know, the timing was, you know, was the night before a game, and, you know, I’m sure that’s what the guys woke up to but, yeah, I mean, it’s part of our business.”
Earlier in the press conference, McCarthy revisited the intersection between business and football, as it played out throughout the Porter saga.
“You never hope business, you know, gets in the way of your preparation and playing, but, you know, it’s the modern NFL,” McCarthy said. “You know, it was a situation where, you know, it’s been going on for some time. As an organization, we felt like this was the best thing for us and, you know, we wish Joey well, and, you know, I never really got a chance to coach Joey, but, you know, obviously, did some, you know, did some great things here, and we wish him the best in Dallas.”
McCarthy added that there “was definitely a point” where he “definitely thought it was a possibility” that Porter would play for the Steelers against the Browns.
“We had a rep count in mind,” McCarthy said, “so that’s what we were working towards.”
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers also got a question about the timing of the Porter trade and the potential impact on the team.
“You gotta ask the defensive guys,” Rodgers said. “They’re probably around him more often but, you know, I thought Joey might play this week, based on his practice stuff but, you know, we wish Joey well.”
One defensive player wasn’t surprised by the move. At the outset of the Thursday night broadcast, Kaylee Hartung said linebacker Patrick Queen knew that, when Porter didn’t get on the bus with the team to Cleveland, “he wouldn’t be in Pittsburgh when they came back.”
Porter is now in Dallas. And it appears that he will indeed make his 2026 debut on Sunday, when the Cowboys face the Texans.
After a long, drawn out negotiation, the Steelers dealt cornerback Joey Porter Jr. to the Cowboys on Wednesday night.
Porter’s now-former teammate Jalen Ramsey went through a similar situation with the Jaguars back in 2019, which ended with him being traded to the Rams.
After Thursday night’s loss to the Rams, Ramsey told reporters that he felt like a big brother to Porter and wanted him to be a valued, important part of the Steelers going forward.
“It is very unfortunate that it didn’t work out,” Ramsey said, via Mark Kaboly of the Pat McAfee Show. “But at the same time, I am happy for him. I am happy that he is getting a fresh start. I wish him all the success in his NFL future. I think he is a stud, I really do. I think he is a top-five guy. People argue that he’s top 10, but I really think Joey is a good player, I really do.”
Ramsey also referenced his own story and compared it to Porter.
“It happens, and everybody moves on,” Ramsey said. “For me, I’ve been through it before. I was Joey before at one point. When I was 24, I was Joey. A little different; our situations were a little bit different. The exit was similar, potentially. It is what it is. I treat it as part of the NFL business. We held hope as long as we could that things would get done, but that’s part of it. That’s business. Guys have to do what’s best for them because the NFL is not for long. You have to do what is best for you, and you can’t be mad at a man wanting to do that.”
Browns defensive end Jared Verse picked up an unnecessary roughness flag in Thursday night’s win over the Steelers, but he says it was Pittsburgh that played dirty.
Verse said after the game that he and the Steelers went back and forth with a lot of trash talk, and also said the Steelers were playing dirty in addition to their talk.
“They were talking crazy. I was telling them, ‘You’re double-teaming, y’all sliding, y’all garbage.’ I was talking crazy to them. I don’t have any respect for anybody that plays too dirty and does too much extra shit after the game, excuse my French. So, I can’t wait to see them again. It’s going to be a good time when I see them again,” Verse said.
The Browns will be in Pittsburgh in Week 9, when Verse and the Steelers’ offensive linemen will have plenty more opportunities to talk, and perhaps do more than just talk.
Browns cornerback Denzel Ward intercepted Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the second quarter of the Browns’ 27-24 win on Thursday night, and he said after the game that he loves it when Rodgers throws at him.
Asked if Rodgers will stop throwing at him after Thursday night’s game, Ward answered, “I hope not. I hope he keeps throwing at me. Good things happen when he throws at me. I hope he keeps throwing at me.”
At the time of Ward’s interception, the Steelers were winning 7-0 with 14 minutes left in the second quarter. By the time there was 1 minute left in the second quarter, the Browns were winning 21-7. Browns coach Todd Monken made a point of mentioning Ward’s interception as the play that turned the game around.
“Big credit to Denzel Ward. He changed the momentum of the game. We just didn’t convert the first drive, and then we had a big play and stalled, and then Denzel flipped it and we go things going,” Monken said.
Ward said he thinks the Browns are turning things around.
“It felt good. It just shows the resilience of this team, this organization, and all the fans. It’s been a lot of up and downs, but we’re on a winning track right now, changing the organization right now, and we’re looking to stack one on top of the other,” Ward said on the Prime Video broadcast.
How many more wins the Browns can stack remains to be seen, but right now they’re 3-1 and atop the AFC North.
In the first quarter of Thursday night’s game between the Steelers and the Browns, Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers became upset.
Given that he’s often upset during games, that doesn’t really narrow it down.
He was particularly perturbed that the play was coming in too slowly. And a microphone caught his words.
“What the fuck?” Rodgers angrily said to the sideline. “Call it.”
The Prime Video cameras then cut to coach Mike McCarthy, who seemed to say, “Fucking asshole.”
After the game, McCarthy initially feigned confusion when asked about communication issues. When the questioning became more specific, he said that Steelers P.R. director Burt Lauten had told McCarthy about the exchange that made its way to TV.
“Communication sometimes is not the best choice of words, but everybody’s competing on the field,” McCarthy said. “I think, you know, what’s said on the field, the way I grew up in this game, you know, usually stays on the field. That’s not the case today. I understand that. But, yeah, any negative communication on my part, I wish I wouldn’t use those words.”
For Rodgers’s part, he wasn’t asked about the specific exchange.
Either way, the Steelers fell to 2-2. They’re currently in last place in the AFC North, as the only team with two losses. If the Bengals and Ravens win on Sunday, the Steelers will be all alone in the basement of the division.
The Browns is the Browns? Forget that.
Cleveland upset Pittsburgh 27-24 on Thursday Night Football, moving into sole possession of first place in the AFC North if only briefly. The Browns are 3-1, a half-game better than the Bengals and Ravens, while the Steelers are 2-2.
Browns kicker Andre Szmyt kicked a 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds left for the game-winner in an entertaining game.
Aaron Rodgers had the ball at the 35 after the Browns kicked it into the end zone, but safety Grant Delpit intercepted Rodgers at the Cleveland 18.
Deshaun Watson played a flawless first half, with 181 yards and a touchdown, before the Steelers adjusted in the second half. The Browns quarterback finished 24-of-33 for 268 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Both of his turnovers came in the second half, with his interception changing the momentum.
On the second play of the final quarter, the Steelers had a pass interference penalty overturned on replay and reversed to an interception.
Robert Spears-Jennings intercepted Watson’s deep pass intended for Denzel Boston. Steelers defensive back Daylen Everette was called for defensive pass interference, though, and the 42-yard penalty had the Browns at the Pittsburgh 23. The Steelers challenged the play, and it was reversed on replay because Jack Sawyer tipped the pass at the line of scrimmage, negating the penalty.
It led to Rodgers’ second touchdown pass, a 21-yarder to tight end Darnell Washington, that drew the Steelers to within 21-16 after a failed 2-point conversion.
After Szmyt’s 44-yard field goal, Rodgers drove the Steelers to a late tie.
The Steelers faced a fourth-and-10 at the Cleveland 11 with 1:51 remaining. Rodgers targeted Washington for a third consecutive play, and safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren was penalized for pass interference. Rodgers then hit Pat Freiermuth for a 3-yard touchdown on the next play, with 1:42 left. Rodgers tied it with a quarterback sneak on the 2-point conversion from the 1-yard line after Jared Verse jumped offsides.
The Steelers, though, couldn’t stop the Browns, who drove 36 yards in seven plays for the winning field goal.
Cleveland finished with 372 yards and the Steelers 361.
Rodgers went 22-of-40 for 299 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Jaylen Warren rushed for 93 yards on 17 carries, and DK Metcalf caught five passes for 115 yards. Roman Wilson added three catches for 74 yards.
The Browns sacked Rodgers five times, but they had to overcome 14 penalties for 88 yards.
The Steelers had minus-6 yards passing in the third quarter as the Browns had two sacks of Aaron Rodgers.
The fourth quarter has gotten off to a better start for the visitors.
On the second play of the final quarter, the Steelers had a pass interference penalty overturned on replay. Robert Spears-Jennings intercepted Deshaun Waston’s deep pass intended for Denzel Boston.
Steelers defensive back Daylen Everette was called for defensive pass interference, though, and the 42-yard penalty had the Browns at the Pittsburgh 23. The Steelers challenged the play, and it was reversed on replay because Jack Sawyer tipped the pass at the line of scrimmage, negating the penalty.
Rodgers took advantage with a six-play, 77-yard touchdown drive.
He rolled to his right to avoid another sack and threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to tight end Darnell Washington. The Browns stopped the 2-point conversion, leaving the Steelers trailing 21-16.
Rodgers is 16-of-29 for 222 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
