Ike is garbage

[Dee Dub]

Re: Ike is garbage

Ike is a great corner who had a horrible game. My complaint is he was clearly struggling and as far as I can see - we made no adjustments to help him out. That last play we had him completely naked and alone in one on one. Just a horrible defensive call from lebeau.

here's something to consider. I'm not making excuses for Ike as he clearly had a bad game - but when we rushed 3, Tebow had all day to make plays. several times the broncos rushed 3 and Ben was getting sacked, hit, ball knocked out of his hands etc.

That's where the problems really started.

Great? Are you kidding me? He is decent at best. He is really in my opionion a solid #2. But he is not great by any means. 9 years in the league and has a total of 13 INT's. That alone is far from great.

9 seasons and 13 picks, so what who cares? most of the time ike doesnt get balls thrown his way. nnamdi asomugha has been in the league for 9 years as well and has a total of 14 picks. i guess asomugha is a decent corner as well.

franklin, the word that was used was "GREAT". Do you think Ike is a "GREAT" corner? Seriously.

Ike is a descent corner who would be better served playing as a teams #2.

[Steelhere10]

Re: Ike is garbage

Maybe the title of the thread was done on
the heat of the moment. But once you get in Ike head. He becomes garbage . Mentally strong he is not.

[Iron Shiek]

Re: Ike is garbage

Ike had a bad game no arguing that...

The coaching staff had a worse game.

Sadly it seems to me that THIS coaching staff has had quite a few really bad games and shouldn't be evaluated only on W & Ls during this past year's easy schedule.

Yup this has been my argument all day with the many people i work with coming to me asking what happened (as if I had something to do with it). I blame coaching over Ike.

And not to diverge from the thread topic too much, but Shades definitely hit on something that has been nagging at me. The coaches, as greatful as I am to them for producing a winning product recently, have really brought themselves under the spotlight. The defensive game plan and lack of adjusting out of said plan, the constant poor clock management (what the heck were they doing at the end of the 1st half), and the decision to play Ben vs. the Clowns I believe all culminated in this atrocity we witnessed yesterday. I only give Ike a small piece of the blame. More goes to the coaches who set him and the team up for failure over the course of the last few weeks and during the game.

[Dee Dub]

Re: Ike is garbage

[quote=Iron Shiek]

Ike had a bad game no arguing that...

The coaching staff had a worse game.

Sadly it seems to me that THIS coaching staff has had quite a few really bad games and shouldn't be evaluated only on W & Ls during this past year's easy schedule.

Yup this has been my argument all day with the many people i work with coming to me asking what happened (as if I had something to do with it). I blame coaching over Ike.

And not to diverge from the thread topic too much, but Shades definitely hit on something that has been nagging at me. The coaches, as greatful as I am to them for producing a winning product recently, have really brought themselves under the spotlight. The defensive game plan and lack of adjusting out of said plan, the constant poor clock management (what the heck were they doing at the end of the 1st half), and the decision to play Ben vs. the Clowns I believe all culminated in this atrocity we witnessed yesterday. I only give Ike a small piece of the blame. More goes to the coaches who set him and the team up for failure over the course of the last few weeks and during the game.[/quote:18bqfr9n]

Blame has to go both ways. Ike got torched on several big plays yesterday. But here's the thing, if you know you dont have help towards the deep middle of the field, you cannot let that receiver get inside on you. Force him towards the sideline where the sideline is your help.

But having said that, by Ike letting him get inside, I think this had to be a blown coverage on one of the safeties.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Ike is garbage

Don't put all the blame for loss on Taylor

Monday, January 09, 2012
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


DENVER -- One by one, Steelers front-office people, coaches and players stopped by to console cornerback Ike Taylor. Defensive coordinator D!ck LeBeau was first. Owner Dan Rooney and general manager Kevin Colbert. Players Ryan Clark, Casey Hampton and Keenan Lewis. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was the last. He practically lifted Taylor out of his chair and hugged him.

"I just told him I loved him," Roethlisberger said later. "I know he's beating himself up. I told him not to do that. I told him he's still one of the best cornerbacks in the league to me."

Touching, right?

Too bad the players didn't do more to support Taylor on the field. If they had, maybe the Steelers still would be in the AFC playoffs instead of home this morning trying to figure out how they lost to the Denver Broncos Sunday night, 29-23, in overtime.

"People are going to blame it all on Ike," linebacker James Farrior said. "But it was all of us. There were 11 of us out there on defense and all of us are responsible for what happened."

It's not exactly a mystery why the Steelers' season is done. Their defense -- ranked No. 1 in the NFL in points allowed and yards allowed coming in -- made the worst quarterback in the league look like John Elway. Tim Tebow, who completed just 46.5 percent of his passes in the regular season, completed just 10 on this gorgeous winter day in the Rockies, but they went for a staggering 316 yards. The Steelers defense had allowed just two completions for 40 or more yards in the 16-game season. It allowed four in this loss. It also allowed Tebow to throw a 30-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Eddie Royal over cornerback William Gay in the second quarter.

By now, you've probably seen the replay a hundred times of the winning touchdown in overtime. On the first play from the Denver 20, wide receiver Demaryius Thomas beat Taylor with an inside move, caught the ball at the Broncos 38, fought Taylor off with a stiff arm at the Broncos 48 and outran him and safety Ryan Mundy to the end zone. It was stunning on a couple of fronts. It took just 11 seconds. It was the Broncos' fourth win in overtime.

You might say the Steelers were Tebowed.

Farrior is right, everyone will blame Taylor. His big mistake was not making the tackle after the catch. "The run after was significant," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.

Taylor declined to talk to the media after the game. A club official stood guard at his locker to make sure no one approached.

Taylor's teammates were left to talk for him and said LeBeau had called a run defense. That left Taylor in one-on-one coverage with no help.

"We had [shown] a pretty good tendency of running on first-and-10," Broncos coach John Fox acknowledged.

Not this time.

"When I saw [Mundy] creeping up, I knew if I beat the cornerback, I had a touchdown," Thomas said.

So he did.

Taylor also was beaten by Thomas for 51- and 58-yard passes in the second quarter, leading to two touchdowns. In the second half, he was called for a 5-yard holding penalty and a 32-yard pass interference penalty.

"Ike is one of the big reasons we're here," Farrior said. "He's been great for us all year. There were a lot of times when he didn't have any help out there tonight. We called a lot of run-stopping defenses."

The problem is the defense didn't do enough to stop the Denver run. The Broncos had 131 rushing yards, 50 by Tebow.

"When you have a guy in single coverage like Ike, you had better get to the quarterback," Farrior said. "We didn't do that nearly enough."

Tebow wasn't sacked.

Part of that might have been the result of losing Hampton to a knee injury on the first series and defensive end Brett Keisel to a groin injury in the second quarter. But where were outside linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley? Did anyone notice them all day?

The Steelers offense also could have done more to bail out Taylor. Pro Bowl-starting wide receiver Mike Wallace dropped what should have been a 52-yard gain to the Denver 28 early in the second quarter. Roethlisberger threw a bad interception moments later that led to a Denver field goal. A bad snap over Roethlisberger's head in the shotgun by center Doug Legursky -- in for injured All-Pro Maurkice Pouncey -- late in the first half probably cost the Steelers a field goal.

But the most painful blunder might have came on a first-and-10 play from the Denver 45 with 29 seconds left in regulation. One completion by Roethlisberger, who led the Steelers to 17 points in the second half, could have set up kicker Shaun Suisham for a possible winning field-goal attempt. Instead, defensive end Elvis Dumervil blew in and knocked the ball out of Roethlisberger's hand. Roethlisberger recovered, but the 11-yard loss all but ended their drive.

"We were moving it and we had a shot," Roethlisberger said. "Someone got, it felt like a finger, on the ball and knocked it out."

Roethlisberger figured the Steelers would win it in overtime. Tebow and Thomas made sure they never got the ball back.

Taylor took the brunt of the blame, but, clearly, there was more to this loss than just him.

"I just talked to him corner to corner," LeBeau said when asked what he said to Taylor.

LeBeau played cornerback for the Detroit Lions a lifetime ago and was good enough to make the Hall of Fame.

"I know how he's feeling," LeBeau said of Taylor. "But that's part of playing corner. Ike will be back. He's down right now, but he'll be back."

Next season, sure. Not next weekend, though.

None of the Steelers will be playing in New England Saturday night. They'll be watching the Broncos.

[url="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12009/1202347-87-0.stm#ixzz1j1lGvvBL"]http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12009/12 ... z1j1lGvvBL[/url]

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Re: Ike is garbage

"I just talked to him corner to corner," LeBeau said when asked what he said to Taylor.

LeBeau played cornerback for the Detroit Lions a lifetime ago and was good enough to make the Hall of Fame.

"I know how he's feeling," LeBeau said of Taylor. "But that's part of playing corner. Ike will be back. He's down right now, but he'll be back."

Next season, sure. Not next weekend, though.

Wonder if anyone was consoling St. LeBeau after his barf-laden performance? He's the one that ought to be concerned about not coming back. Maybe Chuck Noll has a spot saved for him in the retirement home.

[ikestops85]

Re: Ike is garbage

Wow, all these people who have called for our defense to play press coverage more. To quit giving the cushion that allows opponents to catch the ball in front of our DBs are now complaining that we did exactly that.

We lost ... it was either going to be last week or next week. This group of players look more like a hospital ward than a football team. Sorry but we weren't going anywhere this year.

[Steeler Shades]

Re: Ike is garbage

Wow, all these people who have called for our defense to play press coverage more. To quit giving the cushion that allows opponents to catch the ball in front of our DBs are now complaining that we did exactly that.

Balanced by all the posters who for years have said our DBs are NOT good enough to play man-to-man and NEED to give opposing receivers 10 yard cushions otherwise they would get burnt...like Ike...errrr I mean toast.

And how about all the posters that have said Ike is our best DB? What does that say about our secondary?

BTW - nice user name

[NorthCoast]

Re: Ike is garbage

Question I have is why did Ike have such a poor game? He has been nothing but consistent the entire season and it came down to this?

Was it a lack of preparation on his part? was he confused with new assignments or scheme? I understand a pass or two might happen, but this was completely out of character which points to something else that may have been involved. Is he covering for mistakes by Mundy and/or Troy?? I think LeBeau is secure enough that he would have manned up if it these were his calls.

[aggiebones]

Re: Ike is garbage

Ike had a great coverage season per normal. Those that are calling for his head are retarded and know little about football.
Yes, he has terrible hands, but for several seasons he takes the tough defensive assignment and carries it out well. Not every game, not every play, but again it is the toughest coverage assignments.
He had a terrible GAME and had ZERO help.

Basically the plays were lasting so long that Ike's positioning changed several times. DThomas is like a power forward out there. He was basically just boxing out the smaller Ike and Ike didn't stand much chance on several of those. Also had a hard time getting him to the ground because he was off balance from trying to get to the ball.

Where the hell was the rush? Deebo was lost and wrong footed all day. As were most of the defense. I think Mundy should have been in the box, not Troy. Troy should have been watching our backsides.

Tebow is an awkward QB. Hard to defense the first time you play him. Reminds me of a starter called up from AAA in baseball. Unhittable til he makes it through the league.

We finished with 3 DL, can't hardly get a rotation with noone on the bench. They were likely spent by games end.
OL was in shambles. I mean shambles for a Steeler OL. Legs botched the game at C and his moving over there also weakened LG. Starks goes out for the game at some point. Oh, but undrafted RG and our rookie RT were in tact. lol


To blame this on Ike is retarded. The whole team was a disaster and had we leaked through this game, we'd be totally gutted the next week.

Picture this against NE:
Imagine having ZERO subs at DL (would have picked up some scrub)
A starting OL of (JScott, Kemo, Legs, Foster and Gilbert)
-A description of that line could be unexperienced, unwanted, untalented, retarded gimp.

A plus would be getting Clark back, but the rest is disaster.

[feltdizz]

Re: Ike is garbage

He lost that game for us and I'm glad he took responsibility instead of making excuses.

CB is a lonely place but Ike tends to lose it all once he is burned.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: Ike is garbage

Maybe the title of the thread was done on
the heat of the moment. But once you get in Ike head. He becomes garbage . Mentally strong he is not.

[Steeler Shades]

Re: Ike is garbage

Ike doesn't usually get outed like he did against Denver for three reasons:

1. The Steelers have played against some crummy teams this year that have have QBs that can't hit open receivers and when they do the receivers have often dropped the pass. There were MANY occasions when opposing receivers were open and the opposing QBs missed them.
2. Gay, McFadden, Clark and the ENTIRE LB group are even worse in pass defense than Ike and therefore easy targets for the few decent QBs we played against this year. Why challenge Ike when the others are worse?
3. Ike usually gives a nice 10 yard cushion against receivers. Against Denver the defenses LeBeau was calling required Ike to play bump-and-run. Took less time for Ike to get beat without his usual 10 yard cushion.

Ike is a piece of ****. Unfortunately he is the best of a VERY bad secondary.....regardless of what inflated number (against piss-poor teams) the defense finished.

[NorthCoast]

Re: Ike is garbage

Ike doesn't usually get outed like he did against Denver for three reasons:

1. The Steelers have played against some crummy teams this year that have have QBs that can't hit open receivers and when they do the receivers have often dropped the pass. There were MANY occasions when opposing receivers were open and the opposing QBs missed them.
2. Gay, McFadden, Clark and the ENTIRE LB group are even worse in pass defense than Ike and therefore easy targets for the few decent QBs we played against this year. Why challenge Ike when the others are worse?
3. Ike usually gives a nice 10 yard cushion against receivers. Against Denver the defenses LeBeau was calling required Ike to play bump-and-run. Took less time for Ike to get beat without his usual 10 yard cushion.

Ike is a piece of bad word. Unfortunately he is the best of a VERY bad secondary.....regardless of what inflated number (against piss-poor teams) the defense finished.

none of this explains the performance against NE... absolutely stellar.

[Steeler Shades]

Re: Ike is garbage

Brady was 24/35 during that game with no picks. If Ike gave up 6 completions, who do you think gave up the other 18? See # 2 in above post.