‘The refs let them push off’ — Joey Porter Jr., Steelers secondary allow big day from Eagles WRs

PHILADELPHIA — In the eyes of cornerback Joey Porter Jr., the Pittsburgh Steelers secondary had to deal not only with the Philadelphia Eagles’ dynamic duo of wide receivers but with another group that made the task of limiting them all the more daunting.

“I mean, the refs let them push off,” Porter said, particularly Eagles star receiver A.J. Brown after a 27-13 Philadelphia victory Sunday. “At the end of the day, that’s what it is on the tape. (Brown is) just one of those guys who you know they aren’t going to call it.”

Porter was referencing Brown’s veteran status as “one of the faces of the (NFL’s best) wide receivers” as why officials might be reluctant to make calls against the 226-pound veteran receiver.

Brown had a game-high 110 receiving yards on eight catches, and the other half of what might compose the NFL’s best wide receiver duo — DeVonta Smith — had a game-high 11 catches for 109 yards. Each had a touchdown reception, and the Steelers’ inability to contain them was a primary reason they failed to extend their winning streak to three.

“There was a lot of (yards after catch),” said defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, a Steelers defensive co-captain. “There were a lot of times we were able to stop the run, but you give A.J. Brown space, guys like DeVonta Smith space. Playing defense is an 11-man job. You can’t stop one and think the other 10 are just going to fall off. You’ve got to stop all 11. Hopefully, it’s a great lesson for us to learn and we come back better because of it.”

Just like what happened last time the Steelers played here, Brown had a big game in a win. Unlike that most recent Steelers-Eagles game, though, this time it wasn’t big plays from Brown that so much did the Steelers in as it was a volume and quantity of catches.

Brown’s longest reception Sunday was 21 yards. During a 2022 win against the Steelers, Brown had three touchdown catches alone that were longer than that (39, 29 and 27 yards), plus another 43-yard catch.

Five Brown catches Sunday gained first downs or touchdowns and another gained 19 yards on a second-and-20. Six Smith receptions extended a drive or ended it with a touchdown.

“It was kinda chipping down the field,” safety Damontae Kazee said. “But we’ve got to keep staying after it. We can’t dwell on it.”

That Brown was pushing off was a talking point among the Steelers defense throughout the game and after it.

Kazee didn’t dismiss that contention — but he did add, “It doesn’t matter if (officials) aren’t calling it. We’ve got to keep playing. We can (complain) all day, but that doesn’t help; we’ve got to keep playing.”

Not helping matters was the Steelers were without starting safety DeShon Elliott because of a hamstring injury, and they lost starting outside cornerback Donte Jackson during the first half because of a back injury.

“Yeah, that’s tough, we miss those guys, but we also know we have plenty of guys ready to play,” rookie defensive back Beanie Bishop said. “We have that ‘next man up’ mentality, and we know we can get the job done.”

In three career games against the Steelers, Brown has 20 catches for 419 yards and five touchdowns. This past week, he was at the center of a controversy because he not-so-subtly contended Jalen Hurts was not getting him the ball enough.

“’11’ (Brown’s uniform number) was talking all week and talking about getting him the ball — and that’s what they tried to do,” Porter said.

Then, ‘11’ was — in Porter’s eyes — pushing off against him.

“It’s not really an excuse — I still have to play my technique and do my thing,” Porter said. “So, we just chalk this one up and just keep working.”