Thursday Night Football, Panthers Vs. Steelers: Pittsburgh Cruises To 27-3 Win

It would have been tough for the lowly Carolina Panthers to come into Heinz Field in Pittsburgh and defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers, but they didn’t even put up much of a fight. The final score was 27-3, but it really wasn’t even that close. Pittsburgh’s defense did what it usually does, and their offense got the ball down the field easily through the air.

All this was enough to make SB Nation’s Panthers blog Cat Scratch Reader lament the death of Carolina’s once-potent deep passing game.

The second half meant more of a defensive struggle. The Steelers found the end zone once again when Ben Roethlisberger kept it himself, sneaking in from one-yard out. Carolina finally got itself on the board, using excellent field position to come away with a field goal, the only points the Panthers put up all day.

Roethlisberger had a great day in the passing game, throwing for 320 yards and a touchdown. Mendenhall added 65 yards and a touchdown on the ground while Mike Wallace had a game-high 104 yards and a touchdown on four catches.

With just minutes to go in this week’s edition of Thursday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers lead the Carolina Panthers, 27-3. Can the Panthers put together a comeback of epic proportions? Will the Steelers continue to march towards home-field advantage in the playoffs? The drama this week is palpable.

This game wasn’t expected to be close, but the fact that it was close early made Pittsburgh’s outburst sort of surprising. This is how you wind up 2-12, though.

The Panthers will need a lot of breaks to win this game. They can start by forcing the Steelers offense into some mistakes. That can come via the pass rush, which SB Nation’s Cat Scratch Reader identifies as one of the keys to the game.

SB Nation’s Behind The Steel Curtain says not so fast when talking about the Panthers defense getting to Roethlisberger.