Taylor, Secondary Not Looking Past Pass-Deprived Chiefs
PITTSBURGH (93-7 THE FAN) -- Apropos of a superb effort against Eli Manning, Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor earned AFC Defensive Player Of The Week honors, but after putting down the Super Bowl champs on the road, he doesn't necessarily expect an easy night against the worst team in the league at home.
The Chiefs (1-7) rank only 26th in the NFL in passing offense, sitting in a tie with Miami with a league-low six TD passes thrown in their first eight games. Making matters slightly worse for head coach Romeo Crennel is the loss of beleaguered quarterback Matt Cassel's backup, Brady Quinn, to a concussion.
Having said that, the Steelers (5-3) already own losses to Oakland and Tennessee--two other AFC opponents who, at the time, were also floundering offensively.
"Every time we play the Chiefs, it's come down to the last drive, or overtime," Taylor told Post-Gazette reporter and 93.7 The Fan Steelers insider Ed Bouchette. "We know what we're dealing with, and we know they're a hard team to beat."
The Steelers, in fact, have gone a pedestrian 5-4 in the past nine regular season meetings, despite leading the all-time series, 18-10. It's only the Chiefs' fourth visit to Pittsburgh in the past quarter-century, with the Steelers victorious in the last three, most recently in 2006.
Kansas City is at the bottom of the league in turnover margin (-20), which, on paper, plays right into the hands of Pittsburgh, the current league leader in total defense and pass defense--even though the Steelers have only forced eight of those.
"Since I've been here, I don't think we've ever led the league in turnovers, and we've had three Super Bowl appearances," Taylor said. "That's something we'll continue to work on. We've just got to play football."
Meanwhile, Taylor also talked about the greatly improved play of Keenan Lewis, and what it has meant to the secondary:
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