The Pittsburgh Steelers are finally getting the secondary play they envisioned back in training camp — just not from the players they expected to deliver it. Jalen Ramsey and Kyle Dugger have stabilized the safety position after poor play and injuries set the group back, and now James Pierre appears to be doing the same for the cornerback room in Darius Slay’s absence.
“There’s not one of us here that was thinking, ‘Boy, James Pierre is gonna shut down [Tee] Higgins and [Ja’Marr] Chase.’ We were thinking, oh geez, this is gonna get ugly,” Mark Kaboly said Monday via 93.7 The Fan’s Morning Show. “Why hasn’t this guy been playing for two or three weeks now? Why hasn’t he been playing for the last year if he’s been that good? Or is this just a one off? I don’t know, I guess we’ll find out. But you can’t bring Slay back right now. No way you can bring him back.”
It was only a few weeks ago that Ja’Marr Chase was virtually unguardable with 16 receptions for 161 yards and a TD. Yet Pierre, originally an undrafted free agent, covered him as well as any Steelers cornerback ever has. Look at this crucial third-down pass breakup when the game was still close. Chase had zero separation, and Pierre timed it perfectly to deflect the ball at the catch point.
The Steelers built their secondary around the trio of Jalen Ramsey, Joey Porter Jr., and Darius Slay with the Bengals in mind. They wanted to be able to shut down Chase and Higgins. They failed miserably with everybody healthy a few weeks ago, but the reshuffling of the secondary and the emergence of Pierre and Brandin Echols completely turned things around in Week 11.
Bengals QB rating when targeting #Steelers cornerbacks.
Week 7 – 103.8
Week 11 – 39.6
Joe Flacco would've had the same QB rating throwing the ball into the ground each play yesterday. My charting has Porter/Pierre/Echols allowing just 3 catches on 11 targets. What a change.
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) November 17, 2025
According to Pro Football Focus, Pierre currently has an “elite” season grade of 90.9 on defense. Against the best receiving tandem in the league, PFF credited him for allowing just five receptions on nine targets into his coverage for 37 yards. The Bengals tried to pick on him, but he made them pay. He also put the final nail in the coffin with a scoop and score in the fourth quarter.
Despite Slay’s $10 million price tag, the Steelers would be foolish to try to fix what isn’t broken. Porter, Pierre, and Echols should be the top three corners for the foreseeable future regardless of who is healthy.
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