Steelers Could Be In Big Trouble In Wild Card Game Against Ravens For 1 Odd Reason

The Pittsburgh Steelers will have a very tough task to open up the playoffs. Not only do they have to go to the hostile confines of the Baltimore Ravens, but they have to do so while riding a four-game losing streak. While momentum can change on a dime, it's still hard to make that change quickly, especially when the confidence and morale of the team is at rock bottom. There are so many issues that the team needs to clean up, but there is one problem in particular that could show its ugly face. 

According to NFLPenalties.com, cornerback Joey Porter Jr. has been flagged 15 times throughout the NFL season, including those that were either declined or resulted in offsetting penalties. Even though his tendency to be grabby was known to be a weakness, that is still a lot of fouls for just one season. However, the problems go much further than just the base number. 

14 of those penalties have come while playing on the road. Only once has a flag been thrown on him while playing at Acrisure Stadium throughout the season. Some officials are known to have a home team bias, but that still does not explain the ridiculous gap between fouls at home versus fouls on the road.

Another astonishing number is that 12 of those penalties have come during three separate games. He committed three fouls against the Denver Broncos, although none of them cost the Steelers any yards. Two of them were offsetting, and the other was just declined. All of them occurred in the second half. 

Fast forward to Week 10, where Porter's penalties were far more costly: two pass inference fouls, along with a face mask against the Washington Commanders. Even with that rough timeframe, nothing compares to Porter's misery during his Week 13 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Porter was flagged six separate times in that contest, with two of them being declined, including three penalties for pass interference. The last four fouls all occurred in the fourth quarter. In a shootout, every defensive stop is a key one, and the laundry raining down on the field for him did not help things out at all.

Steelers' Road Playoff Game Does Not Bode Well For Porter

Unfortunately, the Steelers will be playing on the road in the Wild Card Round. To make matters worse, the officiating crew for that game is known to be very favorable for home teams. It will not be shocking to see yellow markers flying throughout the game, especially for Porter, no matter who he ends up covering. 

On the other hand, the Ravens' receiving core may take a hit. Zay Flowers got injured in the Ravens' Week 18 game, and he is officially listed as day-to-day. If he can't play, it appears that the starters will be Rashod Bateman and Tylan Wallace. Losing Flowers would be a big hit to Baltimore's passing attack.

If Flowers is out, Porter will likely be matched up against Bateman. The young receiver is known as an expert route-runner, but he doesn't have game-changing speed. The cornerback will have to do what he does best to stop Bateman: jam at the line, then stay right in his hip pocket. However, that kind of play could lead to more flags, so it will be interesting to see what the gameplan is in that regard.

On the other side, Wallace is the speedy deep threat. He is also a return man for the Ravens. Porter will have trouble matching up with his speed if he ends up guarding him. Once again, the key is to jam Wallace at the line of scrimmage to disrupt the timing of the route.