The Joey Porter Jr. Trade Wasn't the Steelers' Only Cornerback Problem This Week

The Pittsburgh Steelers spent the first week of October resolving one of the more awkward standoffs in recent franchise memory — and then immediately handed themselves a new set of headaches in the secondary.

Pittsburgh finalized a deal sending cornerback Joey Porter Jr. to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2028 second-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round selection. For a player the organization once regarded as a foundational piece, that is a modest return — and it came only after Porter had gone through the early season without suiting up for the Steelers at all.

The timing could hardly be worse. On the same Thursday night the trade processed, Pittsburgh fell 27-24 in Cleveland, dropping to 2-2 in a division where the Browns and Ravens both sit at 3-1. The night also laid bare just how thin the cornerback room has become.

Jalen Ramsey, already dealing with a fractured wrist, suited up in a cast and was listed as a limited participant throughout the week. Jamel Dean is now sidelined, defensive tackle Derrick Harmon landed on injured reserve, and the resulting depth chart leans on unproven names like Asante Samuel Jr., Sean Murphy-Bunting, and Brandin Echols. The operation that once had Porter as its centerpiece is now asking its backups to hold the line.

The numbers behind the deterioration

This is not just a personnel problem. Over the last five games, the Steelers are averaging 19.2 points while allowing 21.8, with a point differential of -2.5. Their overall EPA per play sits at -0.105, and their red-zone touchdown rate is a paltry 11.8 percent — the offense is settling for field goals in the games that matter.

Aaron Rodgers has been serviceable but not elevating the unit: 999 passing yards, seven touchdowns, four interceptions, a 57.5 completion percentage, and an 81.6 passer rating across four starts, with 13 sacks taken. Rumblings about receiver production have grown loud enough that the local discourse has turned to outside additions.

Defensively, the same unit that smothered Atlanta in Week 1 has regressed noticeably. Patrick Queen has drawn pointed criticism for his play against Cleveland, and the interior line now shoulders more work with Harmon unavailable. T.J. Watt remains the anchor, but one edge rusher cannot compensate for a secondary missing its top corners.

What it means for the Colts on Sunday

Indianapolis arrives at Acrisure Stadium on October 11 with its own flaws. The Colts sit at 2-2, scoring 25.5 points per game while allowing 26.0, and their recent form reads WWLLL. The market has installed Pittsburgh as a modest home favorite, with the total sitting in the mid-40s.

That framing says less about Indianapolis than it does about how far Pittsburgh's stock has slipped. The Steelers have fallen to 21st in this site's power rankings, down five spots from the previous week, with a neutral-field rating of -2.7 that already bakes in an injury adjustment. Their rating against the market sits at 0.91, suggesting they are still being priced a shade better than the underlying numbers warrant.

The Porter trade will be judged for years, and the immediate verdict from the Dallas side was unflattering. But the more urgent question for Pittsburgh is narrower: can a patchwork secondary — one playing a safety with a broken wrist in a cast — survive a Colts offense averaging better than 25 points a game? If it cannot, the Steelers will watch their 2-2 start curdle into the kind of midseason spiral that makes the trade look even worse.