Nov 16, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback James Pierre (42) celebrates with cornerback Joey Porter Jr. (24) after scoring a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

Steelers Have a New Starting CB

Originally posted on Pittsburgh Steelers on SI
By Ari Meyer | Last updated Nov 17, 2025 9:00 AM ET

The Pittsburgh Steelers utterly dominated the Cincinnati Bengals at home, extending their divisional lead with a 34-12 win.

Part of their success had to do with the defense taking care of business against Joe Flacco and the Bengals offense, with all facets of the defense showing why they are the highest paid in the NFL.

One of the top performers on the defense was cornerback James Pierre, starting for the first time the season and the ninth time in his career. Pierre had an incredible day with six tackles, two pass deflections and a fumble return touchdown. What will not show up on the stat sheet is that the final defensive play of the game featured Pierre catching a pass from Joe Flacco for an interception, but he was out of bounds, so it did not count.

Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

Statistical Analysis Of James Pierre

Playing for the injured Darius Slay Jr., Pierre stepped up and was a top contributor for a defense full of great contributions. Pierre has long been the player that the Steelers have opted to use when members of the their secondary have been hurt mid game, but he has not necessarily played as strongly before this game.

For example, last season saw Pierre play in 15 games, starting two of them as a backup for the Steelers' secondary. In those games, Pierre allowed a completion percentage of 50% to receivers he was covering, for 11.6 yards per completion and two touchdowns whilst in coverage.

This year, that percentage has dropped significantly, with Pierre allowing 31.4% completion percentage ahead of the Bengals game. On the other hand, Slay has allowed 75% of passes defended to be caught, with 337 yards given up at this point in the season.

Steelers Should Turn To Pierre

Despite Pierre playing due to injury to Slay, Pierre should be the starter for the forseeable future. While his superior numbers may be attributed to a smaller sample size, Slay's inferior coverage work should be enough to have the Steelers make the change to Pierre.

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With the playoff race heating up, the Steelers cannot afford to have one of your cornerbacks giving up a completion three quarters of the time, and the Steelers should try to see what they have in Pierre going forward. The Steelers secondary has been a concern for quite a while, but their play against the Bengals proved that there is some potential.

This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Steelers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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