Ike Taylor Receives Player of the Week From Steelers Digest

Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

On a night that Pittsburgh’s defense kept them in the game, it came as no surprise to me that one of their players earned the Steelers Digest Player of the Week award from Bob Labriola of Steelers.com.

The lucky winner this week was cornerback Ike Taylor, and the veteran cornerback definitely deserves kudos for the work he did against Cincinnati’s Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green during Pittsburgh’s 20-10 loss at Paul Brown Stadium.

In addition to his six tackles, Taylor held Green largely in check to the tune of six catches for 41 yards, and Cincinnati’s quarterback Andy Dalton was forced to rely on his other weapons on the offensive side of the ball.  Even though the Steelers failed to pull out a “W,” it was definitely not due to the efforts of Ike and the other members of Pittsburgh’s defense who had to keep the Bengals’ talented offense at bay.

In a game in which Cortez Allen was sidelined and the Steelers used Robert Golden and Shamarko Thomas as backup conerbacks, Taylor did a solid job against one of the best wide receivers in professional football.  Dalton definitely tried to get the ball to Green as well, and Labriola reported that the former Georgia Bulldog was targeted a total of 14 times.  Unfortunately for Ike and the rest of the defense, their offense only mustered a measly 10 points to help them out.  Moreover, Dalton received some help from rookies like Gio Bernard and Tyler Eifert.

Despite the loss, Ike definitely deserves praise for his efforts.  I just hope that he can string a few more of these solid performances together this year for his team.

Stats & Info. Provided By: ESPN.com, Steelers.com and Pro Football Reference

Follow me on Twitter: @DominicDiTolla

Follow & Like “NPC” on Facebook: Nice Pick, Cowher