Pittsburgh Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr. was flagged twice in the team’s Week 7 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals, and Porter wasn’t pleased with the officiating after the game. Speaking to reporters, including ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, Porter took issue with the calls that went against the Steelers Thursday night in their 33-31 loss.
“I wasn’t a big fan of the calls today with the officiating, but it is what it is. It’s football,” Porter said via Pryor on Twitter. “I was trying to figure it out, but he wasn’t really saying nothing educational to learn from, so it was pointless.”
Asked JPJ if he got explanations from the officials after some of the DPIs:
“I was trying to figure it out, but he wasn't really saying nothing educational to learn from, so it was pointless.” https://t.co/QOfBI9vXeD
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) October 17, 2025
Coming into the game, Porter’s handsiness against Tee Higgins was something to watch for. He had been flagged four times when covering Higgins during the team’s first matchup last season, and it’s likely something that officials had noted and were watching for. Both of Porter’s penalties today were hard to argue against, although he didn’t specifically say he was upset about the penalties against him.
There were some questionable calls though, including on Cincinnati’s first touchdown. Jalen Ramsey was flagged for defensive pass interference, which didn’t matter since Ja’Marr Chase hauled in the pass, but it appeared as though Chase pushed off to free himself for a touchdown.
The refs weren’t the difference in the game, though. The Steelers’ highly paid defense didn’t show up when they needed it to. The game plan against Higgins, Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Flacco was poor, the Steelers often sitting back in zone. When they did play man coverage, it wasn’t good enough and the pass rush didn’t get home.
As Porter said, it’s football. The refs are going to make mistakes and miss calls. But the refs are far from the reason that the Steelers lost and the Bengals won. It was execution, and the Steelers didn’t execute as well as the Bengals did. Maybe Porter was being targeted a bit due to his penchant for grabiness, and his history of penalties against Higgins, but it wouldn’t have made much of a difference had his two penalties gone the other way (and, for the record, they were probably the right call).
The bigger issue could be that the official, in Porter’s eyes, didn’t have an explanation for him when he asked about the penalties. Good officials will explain what went wrong, but they’re also under no obligation to explain the penalty to a player, either.
Porter has the right to be frustrated, but the Steelers’ lack of execution, particularly on defense, is the bigger issue than the referees.
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