Joey Porter Jr. has beef with the Baltimore Ravens, but the third-year cornerback can’t really pinpoint when those feelings might’ve started. They go back long before he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Ever since I was little,” said Porter, who surely inherited some of that acrimony from his father’s days playing linebacker for the Steelers.
“I feel like I always had that rivalry with them,” Porter said. “Now I have my own rivalry and my own beef and vendetta versus them that we’ve got to sort out. It’s a good thing that I get to be a part of.”
The AFC North rivalry renews Sunday night when the Steelers host the Ravens in the regular-season finale at Acrisure Stadium. But in a rivalry that’s often the NFL’s most heated, the stakes for this game are unlike any of the first 64.
For the first time, it’s winner-take-all in the last week of the regular season. The winner celebrates the division title whereas the loser misses the playoffs entirely. Never have the Steelers and Ravens met in such a do-or-die scenario, but that’s certainly upped the Week 18 drama.
“I feel like everybody wanted that,” Porter said. “We’re mad about what happened last week, obviously, but it’s the new year. Ravens versus Steelers at home for the hats and shirts.
“Who wouldn’t want that? This is an entertainment type league, and that’s entertaining. I’m going to be excited for it. Everybody in here is excited for it, so we’re ready.”
Rarely has the NFL had such a game.
Since 2002, this is only the 10th winner-takes-all finale with a division title at stake. That short list includes an all-or-nothing game in 2013 when Aaron Rodgers quarterbacked the Green Bay Packers to an NFC North title with a 33-28 victory over the Chicago Bears.
Playing on the road at Soldier Field, Rodgers completed 25 of 39 passes for 318 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in the win. Rodgers said this week he liked that the Steelers are playing this all-or-nothing game at home.
“It’s beneficial for sure because we need our crowd to be as loud as possible on Sunday,” Rodgers said. “It’s a night game. It’s the only game on TV. It’s a special feeling to be able to play on that Sunday night slot for all or nothing, and a lot easier when you’re playing at home.”
In 2014, the Steelers captured a division title in the final week of the regular season with a 27-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, but that wasn’t a true all-or-nothing scenario because the Bengals and Ravens reached the playoffs as well.
According to the Steelers, the only other time the team entered the last week of a regular season with a division title on the line was 1963. The Steelers lost to the New York Giants, 33-17, at Yankee Stadium.
Earlier this season, the Steelers won their first matchup with the Ravens, 27-22, in Baltimore. That close final score fit with the recent history of this series. Ten of the past 12 games were decided by seven points or fewer.
Porter is only 25 but knows the history of this Pittsburgh versus Baltimore rivalry well. His coaches and teammates say he gets amped up for these games.
“Everybody feels like I play 10 times harder when I play the Ravens,” Porter said.
Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin believes Porter’s father maybe had some influence there.
“I just know he loves rivalry games,” Austin said. “I think he really likes it when the stakes are higher as a competitor. … There is nothing higher than this week for us because it’s a win-or-go-home game for everybody.”
Porter was around 3 years old when his father may or may not have boarded the Baltimore team bus outside the stadium looking to confront Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. That 2003 story about his father took on mythical status over the years, and even Porter said it’s hard to separate fact from fiction.
“He said that’s a fairy tale,” Porter said. “There was the truth, and then some people got the story and put their own little twist to it. I haven’t really sat down and talked about the story. … Some people say he got on there and was fighting. Some say he just walked on.”
Porter, himself, will be playing in the rivalry for the seventh time. He paused this week when asked about his earliest Steelers-Ravens memories.
“There’s been a lot of good ones,” he said. “I don’t want to say anything too crazy. There was a point where dudes were getting knocked down every game. You know that when the Steelers and Ravens play, somebody is not going to make it through the whole game.
“I feel like whenever Ryan Clark was playing and those dudes were playing lights out, that’s when everything got really intense.”
Still, the rivalry hasn’t faced an all-or-nothing moment like Sunday.
Note: The Steelers promoted cornerback D’Shawn Jamison from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against the Ravens. Jamison was elevated twice earlier this season, most recently for the Dec. 28 game in Cleveland.
Down to the wire
Since 2002, the Steelers vs. Ravens matchup is the 10th winner-takes-all game in an NFL regular-season finale where the winner earned the division title and the loser missed the playoffs.
Year, Week, Division
2025, Week 18, AFC North
Steelers vs. Baltimore
2022, Week 18, AFC South
Jacksonville 20, Tennessee 16
2014, Week 17, NFC South
Carolina 34, Atlanta 3
2013, Week 17, NFC North
Green Bay 33, Chicago 28
2013, Week 17, NFC East
Philadelphia 24, Dallas 22
2012, Week 17, NFC East
Washington 28, Dallas 18
2011, Week 17, NFC East
N.Y. Giants 31, Dallas 14
2010, Week 17, NFC West
Seattle 16, St. Louis Rams 6
2008, Week 17, AFC West
San Diego 52, Denver 21
2008, Week 17, AFC East
Miami 24, N.Y. Jets 17
Source: Pittsburgh Steelers