Sunday's win in Houston showed that the Dallas Cowboys' defense is still finding its way. Just like last week's loss in Rio, though, there were encouraging signs in Dallas' 34-30 victory.
The pass rush finally made a difference, sacking C.J. Stroud twice, and the run defense was airtight, allowing 62 yards on just 3.3 yards per carry.
All eyes, however, were on Joey Porter Jr., whom the Cowboys acquired from the Steelers earlier this week. Would he shadow Nico Collins? How much would Christian Parker simplify his assignments after Porter arrived in Dallas just three days before kickoff?
The plan was simple, but oh, was it effective. According to Sumer Sports (h/t Bobby Belt), Porter wasn't targeted once across 16 coverage snaps. Triple zeroes for JPJ in his Cowboys debut: 0 targets, 0 receptions, 0 receiving yards.
Joey Porter Jr. was so good in his Cowboys debut, he basically didn't exist
Technically, Porter didn't do anything. Not a single tackle. No passes defended. A forced incompletion? Not today. And yet, he made doing nothing look dominant.
Per Next Gen Stats, Porter played 24 of 52 possible defensive snaps, good for a 42.6 percent share. Pretty impressive given he had roughly 72 hours to get acclimated to a new defense. And it's even more impressive that he scared Houston enough to not even look his direction.
After the win, Porter explained that it took a lot to be able to play
“It took a lot, but I’m a dawg at the end of the day," Porter said, via Nick Harris. "I want to be out there with the guys. I want to prove why they got me here, and I feel like I did that today.”
"Feel like I did that today" might be an understatement. The Texans, for all intents and purposes, pretended Porter didn't exist.
They didn't test him once in coverage. No quick throw to see if he knew his assignment or if he was ready to tackle. No deep shot to make him shake off the rust after barely practicing all summer with Pittsburgh. Not even a contested ball to Nico Collins, who had his way with Dallas' secondary.
The Joey Porter Jr. trade will help Dallas' defense in so many ways
Porter had something to do with that. He and Collins only matched up five times, but C.J. Stroud didn't look the Cowboys cornerback's way once.
The FOX broadcast did an OK job of spotlighting Porter’s matchups with Collins. A rewatch will be necessary to fully gauge his impact, but he was attached to Collins’ hip on multiple third downs when Dallas managed to get off the field. Those reps won't show up in the box score, but they were meaningful in helping the Cowboys claw back from a 16-6 halftime deficit.
Porter may not have been "ready" to shadow Collins on every snap, but that should be the formula once the 26-year-old's conditioning improves and he's more acquainted with the playbook.
Sorry, that MUST be the formula, because Collins had his way against DaRon Bland. And when he wasn't beating Bland, the Texans were hunting Reddy Steward in the slot.
Porter was also looked at briefly by the medical staff during the second half before returning. He wasn't operating at full strength.
The Cowboys need to get healthy before we see the best version of this secondary. But the vision is clear: Porter erasing one side of the field. A combination of Bland (likely in the slot after what he showed vs. Houston), Caleb Downs, Malik Hooker, Cobie Durant, and Jalen Thompson should be able to hold their own.
Beyond erasing whichever receiver lined up against him, Porter's presence also allowed Christian Parker the freedom to dial up pressure. Blitzing inherently puts more stress on the secondary, and Parker can be much more aggressive when he trusts his CBs to hold up without a safety net.
Despite not showing up in the box score, Porter provided an immediate return on investment. He didn't just take receivers out of the equation. He gave Parker another layer of flexibility that this defense simply didn't have before the trade.
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