Ike The Problem According to Cowher

[Oviedo]

I usually don't go this route, but there are several all lower case posters that joined in aug or sept of this year who have me re-thinking my policy. I usually just not respond to anything they say.

I only have one on "Ignore" and it isn't even you Eddie

[Oviedo]

The one thing Taylor could try to do is stop BLATANTLY grabbing, and interfering on most plays. I think that is the main reason he is being targeted, because they know even if they don't complete the pass, there is a good chance they will draw a flag. An inteference penalty is every bit as good as a long completion. I don't think smarts is Taylors long suit, but he is a long time vet. He should be very aware that you can't aggressively hold and hand check beyond the 5-yards. The coaches should be emphasizing that point to him.

It would be nice to try to see Ike grab the ball not a receiver. INTs are much needed.

[pfelix73]

Ike has to be dumber than a box of rocks. Says look at the stats. OK- most important stat of all- 2 wins 3 losses... Look at that stat Ike... Now what ya gonna say? Maybe he needs to drop these talk shows, forget about his personal promotions on websites, etc. and start worrying about what counts.- Playing FOOTBALL. Maybe Cowher and to a lesser extent Tomlin is starting to ride his ars for a reason...... of course, this is all just my opinion...lol

[pfelix73]

Do some of you guys even watch the games. I record and replay EVERY GAME. When Mclendon is in there, the average rush yds is 2yds per carry then it jumps to 4+ with Hampton. Along with more pressure to the QB. Kiesel get pushed all down the field , more less than Hayward. Ike is self explanatory, he has been toasted constantly and when he's not he is holding or interfering . So what value is he. I can understand Foote being the starter BUT why is he even in the game in obvious passing downs.
This stuff is not made up by me. I follow all informative web sites (some banned on here ) and they break these things down.

Sure do watch the games. Watched every Steeler game for the past 20 + years. Either saw them in persone or on TV. Didn't even miss one when my daughter was born....

What's your point? you 'break' down each game- don't you think the coaching staff does as well?

[feltdizz]

Sure do watch the games. Watched every Steeler game for the past 20 + years. Either saw them in persone or on TV. Didn't even miss one when my daughter was born....

What's your point? you 'break' down each game- don't you think the coaching staff does as well?

sometimes coaches are blinded by veteran leadership skills. There is no way McClendon should have been on the sideline to start the season. Hampton didn't play 1 down in preseason... and looked like it.

McFadden missed 4 preseason games and was handed the starting job.

Carter? How did he stick around? couldn't have been for speed and athleticism.

[hawaiiansteel]

even Keenan Lewis at #91 is ranked ahead of our Top-10 CB, who is currently ranked as the #96 CB in the league.

Ike Taylor not happy with criticism

October 18, 2012 12:14 am
By Ed Bouchette / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Ike Taylor feels that he's picked on, and not just by opposing quarterbacks and receivers. The veteran cornerback complained that the local news media do not defend the Steelers, even when they cannot sometimes defend themselves on the field. He also says the media picks and chooses their statistics to make their points.

"I always felt like, you know, if we're in the same city, regardless what's going on with the team, why can't we just be family? Why can't we just point out the facts? Why does one individual have to be pointed out?"

Included in the so-called non-supporters in the new media would be his former coach, Bill Cowher, who Sunday had some critical things to say about Taylor on The NFL Today on CBS, not to mention his own coach, Mike Tomlin.

Cowher said this first about the Steelers defense: "I think they have a situation where all three losses, they lost fourth-quarter leads. They are struggling right now on defense."

He then offered what he thought was the biggest problem for the Steelers defense through five games.

"I will say the number one player is Ike Taylor," Cowher said. "He's given up seven penalties, four touchdowns, he's been targeted 44 times, and Ike is not playing his best football. What Dick LeBeau will have to do is protect him with a safety over the top."

Then there was Tomlin's comment about Taylor during his news conference Tuesday.

"He needs to get back to playing good, sound football," said Tomlin, whose perception of Taylor's performance surely was not formed by listening to local sports talk shows.

Taylor offered statistics to make his point that the Steelers defense is not playing as poorly as some of their critics might say.

"The stats are the stats," said Taylor, who repeated his assertions in the locker room Wednesday that he first made on his radio show Tuesday. "Y'all look at numbers, y'all throw numbers out, the numbers don't lie. And, if you want to go by numbers, we're not doing as bad as what they say we're doing."

The Steelers rank fifth in fewest yards allowed as a defense (295) fourth vs. the pass (200) and 10th vs. the run (95). But they are in the second division in the NFL, tied for 17th in points against them, allowing an average of 23 per game. Only one team has fewer than their two interceptions: the Dallas Cowboys, with one.

"Of course, that's not acceptable," Taylor said. "But the stats are the stats, and like I say, it depends on who you're talking to and what category."

Taylor's point was the media makes a big deal out of the points scored against the Steelers and not how few yards they've allowed.

He also expects Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton and receiver A.J. Green to target him Sunday night.

"Why wouldn't you?" Taylor said. "They're going to try me. I have 10 years of tape. Of course, I got to know going into the game that's going to happen. What I got to do is just hold it down.

"A.J. Green is probably one of the best receivers the NFL has going. Young and talented, also with the quarterback they have."

Green is third in the NFL with an average of 104.7 receiving yards per game and leads the AFC with six touchdown catches. Dalton is fifth in the league with 1,726 yards passing, although he has thrown nine interceptions.

As for stats on the Steelers cornerbacks? No interceptions, and, in a ranking of 100 cornerbacks off their play in 2012, Pro Football Focus lists Taylor 96th and Keenan Lewis 91st.

[URL]http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/on-the-steelers-ike-taylor-not-happy-with-criticism-657988/#ixzz29fKzpV4m[/URL]

[hawaiiansteel]

Ed: Steelers Safety Ranked Among NFL's Best

THURSDAY, 18 OCTOBER 2012 WRITTEN BY ED BOUCHETTE

Good morning,

This morning, I listed two rankings for cornerbacks Ike Taylor and Keenan Lewis among 100 in the NFL rated for their play this season by Pro Football Focus, which is respected around the league for its statistical breakdowns and ratings.

Taylor came in 96th and Lewis 91st. But nickel cornerback Cortez Allen fared better in the PFF rankings. He came in at No. 30. So, why isn’t he starting? Good question. Allen does have the benefit of playing in the nickel defense, when passes are expected. He doesn’t have to worry much about the run and he’s not normally covering the best receivers as Taylor does.

Let’s not stop at the cornerbacks though because PFF has some other rankings of Steelers players that are intriguing. As you might expect, the Steelers have one of the most highly ranked safeties in the league. But his name is not Troy Polamalu, according to PFF. It’s Ryan Clark, who comes in at No. 4 among the 75 rates safeties. Polamalu is not on the list, apparently because he does not have enough playing time yet. But the rating they give him, a minus-1.8, would put him at No. 54. Ryan Mundy is No. 65 and Will Allen would come in at No. 28 if he had enough snaps.

Onto some other stuff:

--- I have no idea what Ike Taylor could have been thinking when he thought the local media to stand by their team. He’s been around for 10 years, he should know how this whole business works by now. Plus, writing and saying good things about the Steelers won’t make them play better. Seems to me, the local media hasn’t changed all that much and since 2005, the Steelers have won two Super Bowls and made a third appearance despite all that lack of “support” by the local media.

It was a silly stance by him, but he compounded it by demanding that we use the right “stats.’’ Taylor wants us to point out that the Steelers defense ranks fifth in fewest yards allowed and fourth in fewest passing yards allowed. I’ll bet that is real comforting to Mike Tomlin. Perhaps Taylor should study more video on his own play and that of his opponents rather than spend that time reading and listening to what the local media has to say.

[URL]http://plus.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/pro-sports/steelers/118548-ed-steelers-safety-ranked-among-nfls-best[/URL]

[fordfixer]

[url]http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/football/nfl/wires/10/18/2020.ap.fbn.steelers.ike.s.swagger.1st.ld.writethr u.1208/index.html[/url]


Steelers rallying around embattled CB Ike Taylor



PITTSBURGH (AP) - Ike Taylor's skin - the figurative kind - has grown thick over a decade developing a reputation as one of the NFL's better cover guys.
The veteran Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback is relying on that mental toughness to get him through the most difficult stretch of his career.
Following a brutal night in which the most experienced member of Pittsburgh's secondary was beaten relentlessly in a stunning 26-23 loss to Tennessee last week - surrendering the game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter chief among his missteps - Taylor understands teams no longer fear throwing his way.
"They're going to try me,'' Taylor said. "Why wouldn't you? I've got 10 years of tape. I know going into the game that's going to happen.''
Only it seems to be happening with more regularity for Taylor. Typically charged with covering an opponent's No. 1 receiver, Taylor has found himself on the wrong end of pass completions in critical situations through the season's first month for the Steelers (2-3), who play at Cincinnati (3-3) on Sunday night.
Even Taylor allows his performance isn't quite up to the level. Then again, neither is the rest of the defense for a team that hasn't gotten off to its usual fast start under coach Mike Tomlin.
Pittsburgh is fifth in the league in yards allowed and fifth against the pass. Good numbers, yes, but it's the ones on the scoreboard at the end of games that are causing some early season angst.
The Steelers are allowing 23 points a game - more than a touchdown than the 14.2 they surrendered a year ago - and opponents have already thrown for nine scores, putting Pittsburgh on pace to give up the most passing touchdowns in team history.
"It's all correctable,'' Taylor said.
It's a refrain the team has issued repeatedly since a season-opening 31-19 loss at Denver, when Peyton Manning engineered a second-half comeback in his first game in more than a year. It resurfaced two weeks later when Carson Palmer and the Oakland Raiders put up 34 points to cap another late rally.
And it's back yet again after the Titans rolled up 113 yards and 10 points on its final two possessions, including a 4-yard pass from Matt Hasselbeck to Kenny Britt in which Taylor couldn't close in time to knock the ball out of Britt's hands.
It was the final gash in one of the roughest games of Taylor's otherwise solid career. He was flagged for pass interference twice and defensive holding once in addition to grasping at air rather than a receiver in critical situations.
His teammates have rallied to Taylor's defense while at the same time insisting the last thing he needs is a pep talk.
"There were tons of plays that a lot of us didn't make,'' safety Ryan Clark said. "What you don't do is create a problem. You don't start to panic and try to give him all these solutions and `Oh, I'm in your corner and I want to help you.' This is not a situation to where he is putting the team in position to lose.''
Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau believes there is plenty of heat to go around. The Steelers aren't putting much pressure on the quarterback - they're averaging a so-so 2.2 sacks per game - and have spent the first portion of the year dealing with injuries to safety Troy Polamalu and linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley among others.
Given time to work, Manning, Palmer and Hasselbeck were all able to play like guys in the middle of their prime, not ones well on the other side of their careers.
"It's not the line, it's not the linebacker, it's not the defensive backs and it's not the defensive plays that are called, but it's a combination thereof,'' LeBeau said. "All these players are one-play games and we have to be the ones that make the play at the end of the game to make things swing our way.''
It's something Taylor flourished at last fall when he put together a Pro Bowl-caliber season, one that ended with him chasing Denver's Demaryius Thomas into the end zone on the first play of overtime as the Broncos pulled off a stunning 29-23 wild card victory.
Taylor insisted all summer the play didn't haunt him, that he was over it. Still, he allows the 80-yard catch-and-run may have shown he was vulnerable.
"Every season ain't going to be the same season,'' Taylor said. "What I have is 11 more games left.''
True, though the Steelers need to get better quickly if they want to emerge from the murky waters of the AFC. On Sunday they face one of the top quarterback-receiver combinations in the league in Andy Dalton and A.J. Green.
It will be Taylor's primary responsibility to keep the 6-foot-4 Green in check. LeBeau doesn't expect Taylor to win every battle, just enough of them.
"It's not a question of if they catch one on you here and there but when and how you respond,'' LeBeau said. "Ike's a veteran corner and he'll respond and he'll come out fighting.''
NOTES: Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger left practice early Thursday after rolling his right ankle but said afterward he was "fine.'' ... Polamalu (calf), running backs Rashard Mendenhall (Achilles) and Isaac Redman (ankle), right tackle Marcus Gilbert (ankle) and linebacker Chris Carter (hamstring) did not practice ... Center Maurkice Pouncey returned to practice and is optimistic his right knee will be good enough to play ... Linebacker Lawrence Timmons also practiced on Thursday. He sat out Wednesday with a previously undisclosed foot problem.
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[hawaiiansteel]

Most people are citing ONE ON ONE beatings from Ike. We dont play one on one. The ZONE is getting beat not ONE individual. If you play a zone you play an AREA not a man. Learn football

opposing QBs and offenses really like to throw to the zone Ike is in...

Opposing QBs, offenses like Ike

By Alan Robinson
Published: Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The numbers are so disparate they seem to belong to two different players.

Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor’s statistics through five games last season: 24 passes thrown his way, three completions for 24 yards, no touchdowns, one penalty.

Taylor’s statistics this season: 44 passes thrown his way, 24 completions for 382 yards, four touchdowns, seven penalties called (one declined).

Such remarkably different numbers are difficult to blame on safety Troy Polamalu’s injury absence, Keenan Lewis’ taking over the other cornerback spot, the defensive line’s inability to generate much of a push or the Steelers’ few sacks.

“I need to handle my own and step it up,” Taylor said Wednesday.

Taylor, in his 10th season, is being targeted by quarterbacks like never before. On the first Titans drive last Thursday, Taylor was called for a 25-yard pass interference penalty and gave up a 15-yard completion, and he later yielded 111 yards on seven other passes.

Coincidence or not, Taylor’s falloff began when he gave up four catches for 204 yards in the Steelers’ surprise loss to Denver in the AFC playoffs. Before that, his only below-average 2011 game was when A.J. Green of Cincinnati caught 87 yards in passes against him.

So guess who Taylor will oppose — man to man, often with little backup — when the Steelers (2-3) and Bengals (3-3) meet Sunday night in a game vital to both AFC North teams?

“That’s the challenge that I look up to,” Taylor said.

Taylor’s frustration might have shown when, on TribLive Radio, he chastised media for not mentioning positive statistics or being supportive.

“Why does one individual have to be pointed out? … It is just not about me, that’s what I am trying to say,” Taylor said. “It’s about the whole team.”

But Taylor knows Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, who has thrown 12 touchdown passes, will be looking his way often.

“They are going to try me,” Taylor said. “Why wouldn’t you?”

[URL]http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/2793408-85/taylor-passes-yards-steelers-season-statistics-thrown-afc-bengals-completions#ixzz29hWA5W3i[/URL]

[NorthCoast]

In three games against the Steelers, AJ Green has 7 catches for 123 yds and 2 TDs. Ike is the CB in coverage on a majority of plays. Dalton has been targeting Green on 46% of pass plays (all games). I understand Ike got plenty of help, but Ike was only targeted 3 times in the game allowing one completion for a TD. The rest of the game
Lewis, Allen and Brown were targeted 11 times and allowed a total of 6 pass completions away from Green.

Ike is and remains the Steelers best option against the other team's best.