Steelers' Joey Porter Jr. Absolutely Remembers His Dad Causing A Meltdown In Cincinnati

The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing to take on the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 12 of the 2023 NFL season. It will be the first meeting between the two teams this year. For the Steelers, this game is a must-win after dropping to third place in the AFC North following the loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 11. Steelers rookie Joey Porter Jr. grew up around the Steelers, and understands the importance of this rivalry. 

Steelers' Porter Jr. Understands The Importance Of Division Rivalry

Porter Jr. grew up around the Steelers because of his father Joey Porter Sr., who was a stand out linebacker for Pittsburgh for eight seasons from 1999 through 2006. Porter Jr. was often around the facilities with his father, and certainly saw the importance of each game every year since he was a child. Porter Jr. spoke about growing up around the Steelers, and experiencing the rivalry games against AFC North opponents as a child. 

"I never went to Cincinnati but I definitely went to some when they played at home, and you know like everybody says those games are legendary. You know they're always close games and a lot of history between the two teams. This is exciting for anybody that watched these two."

Porter Jr.'s father played a lot of meaningful snaps for the Steelers during these rivalry games within the AFC North. However, he also made quite the impact when he was an assistant coach for the Steelers back in 2015. The Steelers played at Cincinnati in the Wild Card Round of the 2015 playoffs. The Steelers kicked the game-winning field goal which was set up by a 15-yard penalty on the Bengals. 

The penalty came when Bengals cornerback Adam Jones pushed Porter Sr. who was on the field as an assistant coach during an injury timeout. There was a lot of controversy surrounding the call since assistant coaches are not permitted to be on the field during injury timeouts, and Porter Sr. was also arguing with a number of Bengals players, and seemed to antagonize a lot of them which resulted in him getting pushed. Porter Jr. was asked if he remembered the game and his dad's role as a coach. 

"Yeah, definitely. I remember that like it was yesterday. It was crazy."

Hopefully the Steelers won't need any crazy scenarios to happen in Week 12 to come away with this win against Cincinnati. The Bengals are without star quarterback Joe Burrow because he suffered a wrist injury in their Week 11 game against the Baltimore Ravens and will be out for the remainder of the 2023 season. The Bengals will be starting Jake Browning in his place, who has yet to start a game in the NFL and has just 15 passing attempts in the league. 

Although the Steelers have a big advantage with the Bengals starting an inexperienced quarterback, it doesn't mean getting the victory will be easy. In Week 11, the Steelers lost to Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who was making his second career start for the Browns. In 2020, the Steelers lost to the Bengals when they started Ryan Finley, who is no longer in the NFL. 

In addition to the Bengals starting an inexperienced quarterback in Week 12, the Steelers will be playing their first game since the 2021 season where Matt Canada will not be calling the plays on offense as he was fired on Tuesday. Eddie Faulkner took over responsibilities as the offensive coordinator, and Mike Sullivan will be calling the plays during games. There likely won't be a drastic difference in the offense, since big changes can't be made in just one week. However, hopefully Sullivan knows how to call a better game than Canada and the offense is able to put up a decent amount of points to contribute to a victory. 

What do you think about Porter Jr. growing up around the rivalry between the Bengals and Steelers? Let us know in the comments below!

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