Ike proves he has all areas covered

CINCINNATI -- The Steelers hadn't had a cornerback cover an opposing wide receiver the way Ike Taylor did Chad Johnson since Rod Woodson.

Then again, they probably hadn't had a secondary as banged up as the one that prepared to meet Cincinnati on Sunday in quite a while, either.

So, the Steelers put Taylor on Johnson and hoped for the best, and Taylor delivered in a dominating 27-13 Steelers' victory.

"When we were getting ready for this game, it looked like (rookie Bryant) McFadden and Taylor were going to be the corners," defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said. "Bryant hadn't even been in a game since last week (against Jacksonville), so we thought 'let's match Ike.'

"I'd like to say it was a great brain move, but what do they say• Necessity is the mother of invention• I think that's what it was."

Johnson wound up with four catches for 94 yards, but one of those was a meaningless 47-yard reception with 2:25 remaining in the game.

Johnson's game had started with a 16-yard touchdown reception with 10:31 left in the first quarter that was overturned by a Steelers' replay challenge.

In between, Taylor was on Johnson like stripes on a Bengals' helmet.

"Every snap," Taylor reported.

Well, not quite.

There was that first-and-10 from the Bengals' 47-yard line on the game-opening possession on which Johnson motioned from slot-left across the formation (an incompletion resulted). Other than that, Johnson had Taylor's attention and Taylor earned Johnson's respect.

That still wasn't enough, apparently, for Taylor to become the first to affirmatively answer the question "Who Will Cover 85 in 2005?"

Johnson claimed a technically in keeping his infamous cornerbacks checklist clean.

"Ike's really not on the list," Johnson said.

That's an honor that had been reserved for Deshea Townsend, but yesterday's performance might have been enough to at least get Taylor on next season's scorecard.

"On a serious note, he's very good," Johnson said. "Let me stop playing; Ike Taylor is very good. I came into the game thinking it would be very easy, to tell you the truth. And he made me go into my bag of tricks, which is a good thing for the opponent. Therefore, he's in a class of his own.

"He's good, fast, quick. I did everything I could to make the plays that I did."

Steelers coach Bill Cowher cited "help from the safety over the top" as a factor in Taylor keeping Johnson covered.

Cowher also cited Taylor.

"Ike Taylor has turned into a pretty solid corner and we feel pretty good about him," Cowher said.

Johnson was even more impressed.

"He was out there by himself most of the time," Johnson said. "Yes, he's easily the best (Johnson has faced this season) because he was out there by himself."

Taylor said he never experienced a moment of trepidation once the Steelers started practicing having him follow Johnson on Wednesday.

"I always have a lot of confidence," Taylor said. "We have Hines (Ward), Cedrick (Wilson), (Antwaan Randle) El, 'Q' (Quincy Morgan), I go against some good receivers every day in practice."

LeBeau was thrilled not just with Taylor, but with Townsend (who played in five- and six-defensive backs sets), with McFadden (who replaced Williams early on the corner opposite Taylor), with Tyrone Carter (who played six-defensive backs sets after Mike Logan went down with a hamstring) and everyone else who played on defense.

"You have to give the credit to the 11 guys, whatever the combination, and we certainly used a lot of different ones," LeBeau said. "They just executed what we were talking to them about getting done wonderfully well.

"I don't think any one person was an better than the next, but collectively they were pretty darn good today."