Steelers’ Joey Porter Jr. Speaks Out on Mike Tomlin

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Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. defended head coach Mike Tomlin while talking to The Athletic's Mike DeFabo.

After penalty-filled performances from cornerback Joey Porter Jr. this season, Mike Tomlin has defended the second-year player. It’s now Porter’s turn to return the favor.

While speaking to The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo, Porter explained that he and his teammates fully support the longtime Steelers head coach.

“People are going to talk [expletive] regardless,” Porter told DeFabo. “That’s just what it is nowadays. But definitely, we’re all trying to fight for one thing, and that’s to win and get Super Bowls.

“And obviously we’re all fighting for Coach T. We know what he brings to the table and what kind of character has. We’re always trying to get those wins for him.

“But at the end of the day, the media, the outside noise, is going to always talk, and we just got to worry about what’s going on in the inside.”

Tomlin will enter the 2025 NFL playoffs with more heat from Steelers fans and local pundits than ever. The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since January 2017, which is the longest drought since the team captured its first postseason win in 1972.

Tomlin’s team also lost its last four regular season games this season. The Steelers hadn’t done that since 1998.

Joey Porter Jr. Has a Unique Perspective of Mike Tomlin

Although he was only five years old, Porter saw first hand what it takes to win the Super Bowl from his father. Joey Porter Sr. helped lead the Steelers to their fifth championship following the 2005 season.

Porter Sr. never played for Tomlin. But he coached on Tomlin’s staff from 2015-18, so Porter Jr. and Tomlin had a relationship long before the Steelers drafted the cornerback at No. 32 overall in 2023.

Porter and his teammates have never suffered a losing season in Pittsburgh. No player under Tomlin has in 17 seasons.

But there are few Steelers players left who were with the team the last time they won in the postseason. With five straight playoff losses, Tomlin has dropped to 8-10 in the postseason.

He is 3-9 in the playoffs since starting 5-1 with a Super Bowl win to begin his career.

Interestingly, Bill Cowher experienced similar playoff highs and lows but in reverse. Cowher began his career as Steelers head coach with an 8-9 postseason record, but he won his final four playoff games on the way to a 2006 Super Bowl victory.

Tomlin and Cowher have both won and lost a Super Bowl.

Comparisons Between 2005 & 2024 Steelers

Just like the last month for this year’s Steelers, Cowher’s Super Bowl team went through plenty of adversity in 2005. After starting 7-2, the Steelers lost three straight in 2005 to fall out of a playoff spot.

But behind the leadership of Cowher and Porter, the Steelers won their last four regular season games to earn the No. 6 seed in the AFC playoffs. They then became the first NFL team to with three consecutive road games on its way to the Super Bowl.

The 2024 Steelers won’t be able to get back on track at the end of the regular season as the 2005 Steelers did. But Porter Jr. is hoping the team can rally to win on the road this postseason.

The first test is against the Baltimore Ravens on January 11.

Most pundits don’t consider the Steelers a real threat in the game. The Ravens are 8.5-point favorites. But the 2005 Steelers were counted out too.

DeFabo argued something from Steelers playoff past will repeat itself this January — either the unlikely 2005 run or another early playoff exit like the team’s more recent postseasons.

“Some version of history will repeat itself. Only time will tell whether the end of the story sounds more like Bettis’ improbable 2005 run or Tomlin’s all-too-familiar letdowns,” wrote DeFabo.