01:12 AM CDT on Monday, October 24, 2005

CINCINNATI – The list hangs haughtily in Chad Johnson's locker at Paul Brown Stadium.

"Who covered 85 in 2005?" it asks at the top.

Below that question are the names of 16 cornerbacks with 32 boxes – a "yes" or a "no" after each name.

The Pro Bowl wide receiver of the Cincinnati Bengals gave himself six checks through the first six games. He numbered Gary Baxter, Fred Smoot, Jerry Azumah, Philip Buchanon, Rashean Mathis and "Pacman" Jones among his victims as the Bengals roared to a 5-1 start.

Johnson lit up the competition for an AFC-leading 39 catches for 561 yards and five touchdowns. He torched Smoot and the Minnesota Vikings and Jones and the Tennessee Titans for 100-yard games.

But there will be no check mark for Johnson in Game 7. He expected to see Deshea Townsend of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. That was the name on his checklist, anyway. But he didn't see Townsend. He saw Ike Taylor. All day long.

Taylor keyed a sterling defensive effort that shut down the AFC's highest-scoring offense as the Steelers upset the North-leading Bengals, 27-13, in front of a record crowd of 66,104.

Johnson caught four passes for 94 yards but was held out of the end zone for only the third time this season as Taylor dogged his every step on every pattern. It was the first time the Steelers had assigned one cornerback to one receiver all game long, all over the field since the days of Rod Woodson in the 1990s.

Ike Taylor?

A fourth-round draft pick from Louisiana-Lafayette in 2003, Taylor started only two games in his first two NFL seasons. He became a starter in 2005 but hadn't even started all the games this season, coming off the bench in the third week against New England. So assigning Taylor one-on-one against Johnson caught the Bengals by surprise.

"We didn't think they would do that," said Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh. "We didn't think they could do that. But they did it. They must think Ike Taylor is a helluva player."

It wasn't as much courage on the part of the Pittsburgh defensive coaches as necessity. Three of Pittsburgh's top five cornerbacks missed practice time last week and were listed as questionable for the game: Townsend, Willie Williams and Ricardo Colclough.

That left Taylor, rookie Bryant McFadden and special-teamer Chidi Iwuoma as the only healthy corners on the roster.

"We didn't know who we were even going to have for this game," Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said. "Ike was our most experienced guy, so we felt that [single coverage on Johnson] gave us our best chance of winning."

Colclough didn't play. Williams started but did not finish. McFadden replaced him in the third defensive series. Townsend played as the nickel cornerback. That left Taylor to fend for himself against Johnson and McFadden to grapple with Houshmandzadeh with some safety help.

"I play cornerback," Taylor said. "That's what we do – defend receivers. Chad Johnson is a playmaker. We knew it would be a challenge for me. But as a defensive back, you look forward to challenges."

The biggest challenge came in the first quarter when Johnson did reach the end zone, at least temporarily. He caught an apparent 16-yard touchdown pass – a spectacular diving catch on a pinpoint throw from Carson Palmer just out of Taylor's reach in the corner of the end zone.

Johnson performed his touchdown dance, and the home team posted the six points on the scoreboard.

"That was a great play," Taylor said. "A great pass and a great catch. I was in great [defensive position], but the end zone is a little deeper than you think. I thought it was a touchdown."

But Steelers coach Bill Cowher didn't. He challenged the play, and referee Tony Corrente wound up overturning the call on the field. Johnson had only one foot in the end zone before his hand touched down out of bounds, so the play went as an incompletion.

Four plays later, the drive stalled at the Pittsburgh 12 and Shayne Graham would miss a 30-yard field goal attempt. The Steelers took a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter and built it to an insurmountable 24-6 by the end of the third quarter.

For the first time all season, Johnson was not an impact player for the Bengals. His best play was a 47-yard catch in the closing minutes with the game already out of hand.

Pittsburgh may have found itself a shutdown cornerback. And Taylor earned himself the check mark in Johnson's locker.

E-mail rgosselin@dallasnews.com