Cortez Allen sure played a helluva game!

[zulater]

If you listen to Tunch and Wolf they've been raving about this guy going back to OTA's. They've described some amazing plays he's made on the ball in practice's all through camp. Also I remember reading Ike Taylor say in Steelers Digest that Cortez was on the fast track to being as good as he is.

Well that remains to be seen obviously. But one thing we may get with this guy that we haven't seen in a long while is a corner who can cover and also has real ball skills! Can you imagine having a corner who can actually make 5 interceptions in the same season! I think this might be the guy!

Now please Steelers whatever you do don't let Keenan Lewis go! ( he's a free agent after this season)

Bring back Ike, Cortez, and Keenan and we go into next season the strongest we've been at corner that I can remember since Mel Blount and J.T. Thomas were manning the posts. :yay3:

[Seven]

Yeah I'm pretty excited to see what the three of them can do together next year. Allen really played well at the nickel spot this year and certainly had one hell of a game tonight. No way we let Leiws go. He should be our first priority as far as re-signs go.

[Moose]

Gotta agree. I didn't really know much about Allen, but he was impressive today.

[dislocatedday]

Yes, I agree. Keenan Lewis is a must sign this offseason. I imagine Cortez's rookie deal was for 3 years, so they can tender him at the highest RFA level for the 2014 season, with an eye towards a longer term deal after that if he continues to improve.

[stillers4me]

At least that's one position we don't seem to need to waste in the draft. Maybe we can find another WR diamond in the rough in the 5-6 round. Despite the obvious, I really don't think we need much help there, either. The talent is there, they just need a good swift kick in the hiney to get them on track. New receivers coach? Who is the coach now?

[Edman]

Corner is not a position of need next season. Neither is Offensive Line.

What the Steelers need next year is a backup QB.

[zulater]

Corner is not a position of need next season. Neither is Offensive Line.

What the Steelers need next year is a backup QB.

And a safety, and an impact linebacker, inside and out!

[stillers4me]

Corner is not a position of need next season. Neither is Offensive Line.

What the Steelers need next year is a backup QB. I 'd rather sign that Johnson kid we had in training camp and use the pick for something else.

[SteelerFanInStl]

He gives me hope for the future at least. If Brown would ever come around, we'd be OK at CB, provided we re-sign Lewis and Ike can stay healthy.

[Psycho Ward 86]

the best part is he came to make the splash plays FROM THE GET GO. 1st play for the bengals offense, a 12 yard completion to aj green with allen on him. Allen allowed a 1st down sure but you could tell he was sniffing for the big turnover right away. Even as aj was running out of bounds allen used the sideline to seal off the big play and tried punching that ball out. Promising to see a young player directly cause 3 turnovers all by himself, all of them in impressive fashion. Nice to see a guy with a quick learning curve as well. Im tired of waiting for all of these young players to develop for so many years.

[Seven]

I 'd rather sign that Johnson kid we had in training camp and use the pick for something else.I agree. I've never been a fan of grooming quarterbacks. It rarely seems to work out. I'd rather have a vet backup and when your starter doesn't have it anymore, draft a rookie and play him.

I still think corner is a position to target in April. Let's not forget what Josh Victorian looked like against Dallas. But in my opinion pass rusher and inside linebacker are by far the most glaring needs right now. Foote is a disaster and who knows what happens with harrison and even Woodley at this point.

[zulater]

http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Allen-is-Digest-Player-of-Week/9bf4428e-5da5-42c1-b21b-a7da87a7b564

The Steelers came into Sunday’s game against the Bengals threatening to set a franchise record for fewest interceptions in a season, and with their cornerbacks contributing only one of the seven they had managed in their first 14 games. Cortez Allen changed a lot of that almost single-handedly.

Allen finished the game with two interceptions – the first two of his NFL career – and he also forced a fumble that Ryan Clark recovered to help the Steelers defense come up with a season-high three takeaways. He added seven tackles and three passes defensed.

Allen is the Steelers Digest Player of the Week.

Also considered were Lawrence Timmons, who finished with a team-high 10 tackles, including two for loss, and two of the Steelers’ six sacks; Brett Keisel, who had five tackles and 1.5 sacks; Troy Polamalu, who had eight tackles, including one for loss, one sack, and one pass defensed; Keenan Lewis, who had six tackles and two passes defensed; and Antonio Brown, who caught five passes for 97 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown, which was the Steelers’ only one of the game.

[steelerdude15]

Cortez gets my game ball.

[SteelGhost]

Kudos to Cortez :thumbsup: A must sign for 2013 !

[Dwinsgames]

thought he was better than Lewis in Latrobe , didn't understand how Lewis got the hat over him all season long ... Lewis had stepped up of late and shows he has a spot here , but hard to argue with What Tez did today

[Count Steeler]

Allen has proven to have the best ball hawk skills. Lewis should have had at least 4-6 ints this year. He is among the leaders in passes defended, but he needs to get that ball hawking down.

[Psycho Ward 86]

almost all of lewis' pass deflections were in positions where an interception was really not possible. He made some serious noise as well. Saved us a touchdown with that insane deflection in the endzone. talk about never giving up.


and i agree with seven. you can never have enough good cornerbacks in the nfl anymore. we have a great nickel package (ike, keenan, cortez), but ike is 32, so you never know how long he's going to play at a high level and we have him for...2 more years i think?

[zulater]

Notice how certain supposed Steeler fans have no opinion on any subject that can't be brought back to destroying one particular Steeler player? If that doesn't define a phoney and a troll I don't know what does.

Just saying. :coffee:

- - - Updated - - -


almost all of lewis' pass deflections were in positions where an interception was really not possible. He made some serious noise as well. Saved us a touchdown with that insane deflection in the endzone. talk about never giving up.


and i agree with seven. you can never have enough good cornerbacks in the nfl anymore. we have a great nickel package (ike, keenan, cortez), but ike is 32, so you never know how long he's going to play at a high level and we have him for...2 more years i think?

There was one easy interception that Keenan should have had that would have won the Steelers a game ended up going on to lose. That can of corn he dropped against the Titans would have guaranteed that win.

Which all goes back to what a bizzare season it was.

This team just took turns on who would step down to beat us from week to week. I've never seen a team with so much self inflicted damage in all my years following sports.

[NCSteeler]

Lewis's play down the stretch likely coast the Steelers a bunch of money or a great young player. He may decide to wait out another year and see what the market is. BUT if we can keep Allen, Lewis and Ike whole and healthy should be some of the best CBs we've started in a long time.

[zulater]

http://www.timesonline.com/sports/steelers/steelers-allen-slows-green-shows-promise/article_a877b347-e490-5236-87dd-ed0ce1bf8bcf.html

A.J. Green’s last catch will be the play Cortez Allen remembers from Sunday’s loss to the Bengals.
As important as Allen’s two interceptions, forced fumble and seven tackles were, the second-year corner couldn’t help but wonder about coverage on Green with 14 seconds left. Green caught a 21-yard pass and was pushed out of bounds by Keenan Lewis, setting up the Bengals for Josh Brown’s game-winning 43-yard field goal.
Allen said he could have been in better position to make a play and potentially send the game into overtime.
“If I get a little more depth, maybe I can help out a little more on that play,” Allen said.
Ryan Clark empathizes with Allen, but the veteran safety said the last play shouldn’t be what Allen remembers.
“You know how it goes when you lose a close game. Everybody’s replaying one play or two plays that they could have done differently,” Clark said. “Cortez is going to beat himself up about that a lot, but he shouldn’t. He played a great game.”

[Psycho Ward 86]

Lewis's play down the stretch likely coast the Steelers a bunch of money or a great young player. He may decide to wait out another year and see what the market is. BUT if we can keep Allen, Lewis and Ike whole and healthy should be some of the best CBs we've started in a long time.

what? lewis is still playing pretty well as of late? if it werent for him we lost by 2 scores to the bengals and cowboys. at least. that pass deflection in the right corner of the endzone was the best pass defensed i think anyone has seen all year. And that one against bryant the week before saved a td as well.

and he's a UFA after this season

[zulater]

what? lewis is still playing pretty well as of late? if it werent for him we lost by 2 scores to the bengals and cowboys. at least. that pass deflection in the right corner of the endzone was the best pass defensed i think anyone has seen all year. And that one against bryant the week before saved a td as well.

and he's a UFA after this season

I think you misinterpreted NC.s post.

what I got from that post was that Lewis strong play down the stretch is going to cost the Steelers either a boatload of money to resign him or we're going to end up losing him to free agency because he's established himself as a valuable commodity.

[Psycho Ward 86]

I think you misinterpreted NC.s post.

what I got from that post was that Lewis strong play down the stretch is going to cost the Steelers either a boatload of money to resign him or we're going to end up losing him to free agency because he's established himself as a valuable commodity.

whoops that totally went over my head

[43Hitman]

I'm really excited about what we have talent wise in our CB's. As someone said above me, you can never have too many corners so I wouldn't be opposed to drafting another one. Cortez and especially Lewis have really made a name for themselves on this team.

Now we really need to start looking at the safety position, its time to start looking at the future there. Troy maybe has two years left in him, we need a younger guy to back him up. I think Allen did well this year, but lets face it, he's no spring chicken either.

[steeldawg]

we need 2 safeties troy and clark are getting old, also harrison woodley and foote arent young anymore.

[zulater]

we need 2 safeties troy and clark are getting old, also harrison woodley and foote arent young anymore.

If we can keep Lewis and assuming Ike is brought back I think we don't draft a corner early unless it's a guy that is just too great to pass up on.

Draft needs are much greater at the positions you point out here dawg.

[steeldawg]

If we can keep Lewis and assuming Ike is brought back I think we don't draft a corner early unless it's a guy that is just too great to pass up on.

Draft needs are much greater at the positions you point out here dawg.

Ya Lewis was awsome this year and Allen is developing nicely, victorian is not bad for coming off the practice squad i think at corner we are ok for now.

[zulater]

Ya Lewis was awsome this year and Allen is developing nicely, victorian is not bad for coming off the practice squad i think at corner we are ok for now.

Speaking of Victorian. I still don't get how or why he was covering A.J. Green on the 4th and 22 play?! :lol:

[steeldawg]

Speaking of Victorian. I still don't get how or why he was covering A.J. Green on the 4th and 22 play?! :lol: Lol it kinda worked out though.

[zulater]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/stats/_/name/pit/pittsburgh-steelers

Foote's our leading tackler ( not uncommon for an ILB obviously) for the season, and has forced two fumbles and recovered two. Both of which leads the team. Also he has 4 sacks which isn't bad for an ILB on this team and has a good number of hurries. He's not great, but he's not bad either.