Prior to the start of the third quarter’s last play in the Pittsburgh Steelers-Cincinnati Bengals showdown this past Sunday, Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor lined up across from Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green. When the ball snapped and play began, the young Green swiftly maneuvered around the veteran Taylor’s attempt at press coverage, which caused Green to zoom yards ahead of Taylor and generate an 81-yard touchdown catch-and-run on a go route. Green’s score put the Bengals up 21-17 to start the fourth quarter of a paramount AFC North rivalry game.
Luckily for the Steelers, the team’s offense played to its elite potential and scored 25 points in the fourth quarter, giving Pittsburgh a 42-21 victory over Cincinnati.
However, it is eminent that the secondary is a colossal defect for the Steelers, and 13-year pro Taylor is one of the main impetuses for the group’s lackluster play.
Against the Bengals, Taylor allowed 90 percent of the passes thrown at him be completed. Moreover, he allowed one touchdown toss, nine receptions and 141 receiving yards, which means he gave up an average of 14.1 yards per reception. But wait, there is still one horrific stat left: Taylor yielded 53 yards after receptions — most of which were recorded on Green’s 81-yard score.
Green generated 136 of Taylor’s 141 allowed receiving yards; he totaled 224 yards of receiving against the Steelers. Sunday’s match-up marked the first game in which Green recorded 100-plus receiving yards against Taylor, and it was only the second time in Green’s career that he tallied a 100-plus receiving yard game versus the Steelers.
This season, Taylor has only played in five of Pittsburgh’s 13 games. In those games, Taylor allowed four touchdown receptions, a quarterback completion percentage of 77 and has allowed over 100 yards receiving in two of those games.
Taylor’s ability is unambiguously rapidly abating as his career goes on. Taylor is not as fast and agile as he once was, which is quite evident after Green’s outclassing of him just days ago. His loss of speed puts a huge dagger in Taylor’s game. Taylor was never a playmaker nor a perceptive player, thus his physical attributes have always been inordinately key to his success on the field.
The downfall of Taylor can be traced back to his college days. Heading into the 2003 NFL draft, many teams deemed Taylor as an inexperienced but physically-gifted player; that label stymied him from being chosen in the early rounds of the draft. The Steelers selected Taylor in fourth round of the 2003 draft. At Louisiana-Lafayette, Taylor only played one year as a defensive back — prior to that, he played at the running back position. Nonetheless, he ran the 40-yard dash under 4.40 seconds and stood at 6-2, which gave him an uncommon combination of size and speed.
Taylor hasn’t evolved drastically since his rookie year, which is exactly why his old-age isn’t good to him. His exceptional physical attributes catapulted him to become a solid starting cornerback in the NFL, but his lack of playmaking ability and football ingenuity restricted him from the upper-echelon of NFL cornerbacks, and that is also the root of his deterioration into a subpar player. It is ascertainable 2014 is Taylor’s last year as a Steelers’ cornerback, and likely an NFL cornerback.
The Steelers possess one of the absolute worst pass defenses in the NFL; the secondary is likely to be the leading catalyst of Pittsburgh’s 2014 season feasible termination. And it is indubitably probable that the Steelers will use their first-round pick of the 2015 draft to select a defensive back.
All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference and Pro Football Focus.
