The Steelers didn't have long to celebrate their victory Sunday over the Ravens to salvage a split of their regular season series.
Not with a Thursday night game looming at Heinz Field against a formidable opponent.
If they need any idea of just how tough the Panthers are to prepare for, they needed only to turn on the tape of Carolina's 36-21 win over the Ravens just a couple of weeks ago.
In that game, they would see Cam Newton throwing for 219 yards and two scores and running 10 times for 54 yards and another score against the NFL's top-rated defense. Then, the Panthers (6-2) scored six touchdowns in a 42-28 win over the Buccaneers last week.
Newton's efforts against the Ravens matched the two touchdown passes and one rushing score Ben Roethlisberger had against them in a 23-16 win in Baltimore last week. But make no mistake, Roethlisberger knows all about Newton, even though they have only faced each other one other time despite the fact the two teams meet in the preseason every year.
"He’s Superman," Roethlisberger said of Newton. "Like Superman, pretty spectacular."
The league has had some duds on Thursday night games over the years, but this one is most certainly not one of those.
Newton has hardly been alone. Superman might not need a sidekick, but running back Christian McCaffrey has been a pretty good one. McCaffrey has rushed for 509 yards and five scores while also catching 49 passes for 378 yards and two more scores.
It's given the Steelers, who will wear their "Color Rush" uniforms for the game, plenty for which to prepare with just a few days to do so. The Panthers are in the same boat.
"It’s a pain in the neck because they have a big quarterback and he’s probably bigger than the fullback they have," Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler said of the 6-foot-5, 248-pound Newton. "He’s a problem running and McCaffrey is a problem running and caching out of the backfield and stuff like that. Those are some things we are going to have to defend, if we can."
Roethlisberger hasn't been bad, himself, but might have a little more help than Newton. Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster might be the league's best receiver duo, and James Conner has played like a superhero himself in the first half of the season.
"You talk about great players, you look at what the Steelers have with their great receivers," said Panthers head coach Ron Rivera. "Antonio Brown is as scary as it gets. You add in JuJu and you're like, 'Man, these guys can get vertical.' Then they've got tight ends that can stretch the middle of the field. And man, I'll tell you, James Conner is as good as advertised."
To Rivera's point, Roethlisberger and Conner have become just the second duo in league history to record 250 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in four consecutive weeks, joining Tony Romo and DeMarco Murray of Dallas in 2014. Nobody has ever done it in five consecutive games.
Not coincidentally, the Steelers have won their past four games to improve to 5-2-1. And who knows? They might even get Le'Veon Bell back to add to the equation soon.
One way or another, they'll know what's happening with that situation soon enough. Bell has until 4 p.m. next Tuesday to report and sign his franchise tag tender or he won't be eligible to play at all this season for anyone.
Either way, this promises to be a marquee matchup between two of the league's best teams.
"I know they miss their other guy, but right now, this offense looks like it's starting to click," said Rivera.
THE ESSENTIALS
• When: 8:22 p.m.
• Where: Heinz Field
• TV: WPGH, FOX (national), NFL Network (national), Amazon (Internet)
• Radio: 102.5 WDVE, ESPN Pittsburgh
• Satellite: SiriusXM channel 225, Internet 826
• Forecast: 46 degrees, possible rain
• Lots open: 4:20 p.m.
• Will call open: 6:20 p.m.
• Gates open: 6:20 p.m.
• Boxscore: NFL Game Center
• Odds: MyBookie.AG
THE INJURY REPORT
Steelers: RT Marcus Gilbert (knee, out), DT Daniel McCullers (ankle, out)
Panthers: DE Mario Addison (shoulder, questionable), C Ryan Kalil (ankle, questionable), LB David Mayo (groin, questionable), S Eric Reid (shoulder, questionable), WR Torrey Smith (knee, out), DE Marquis Haynes (illness, out)
THE KEY VARIABLE
Good defense is a thing of the past in the NFL right now -- at least in the terms of how it used to be defined.
For example, just 10 years ago, the Steelers led the NFL, allowing 237.2 yards and 13.9 points per game in what would become a Super Bowl-winning season. But seven other teams held opponents under 300 yards of offense that season, while nine teams limited opponents to 20 points or fewer.
Last season, just three teams limited opponents to 300 or fewer yards per game. This year, that figure stands at none -- at least midway through this season. Six teams are allowing 400 or more yards per game.
The Panthers and Steelers? They're now both in the upper half in the league. Carolina is 11th in the league in total defense at 344.8 yards per game, while the Steelers are right behind at 12th at 347.9.
"I never thought that would happen," Rivera said of no teams being under 300 yards allowed per game. "The game has changed so much. Back in the day, you didn't run 80 plays. Back in the day, you didn't throw the ball 50 times like some teams are now. It's crazy."
Butler — like Rivera, a former linebacker — agrees.
"I didn’t think that would happen, but that is what’s going on," Butler said. "The league has got what they want."
That would be more offense. But the Panthers have a formidable defense, nonetheless, boasting seven players on that unit who have been named to a Pro Bowl, the most in the league.
That group is led by the linebacker duo of Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis, two players who have the undivided attention of the Steelers.
"That’s as formidable a tandem at the linebacker position in a 4-3 scheme since (Brian) Urlacher and (Lance) Briggs in the mid-2000s, in my opinion," Mike Tomlin said, referring to a duo Rivera coached with the Bears. "(I) have a lot of respect for Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis. They are quality players at all levels. They are both very good against the run. They are both very good in coverage, be it zone or man coverage. They both are very good blitzers. They are traffic cops. They are aware. They get others lined up. They’re special."
Those two never leave the field for the Panthers.
The Steelers, on the other hand, have had to mix and match things to help account for the loss of Ryan Shazier last season. The past two weeks, they have finally gotten healthy enough to use Vince Williams and Jon Bostic in their base 3-4 and Morgan Burnett and L.J. Fort in their sub packages.
The issue when facing a team such as Carolina, however, is the Panthers run a lot of run-pass options with Newton, who has run the ball 73 times for 342 yards while also throwing 15 touchdown passes.
The Panthers rank second in the league in rushing at just under 144 yards per game.
So do you take your run stoppers off the field, as the Steelers did last week against the Ravens when they were in their nickel, dime and dollar defenses over 80 percent of the time? Or do they stay with their base 3-4 defense more in this game and perhaps leave themselves susceptible to Carolina's speedy receivers, including McCaffrey and receivers D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel.
At issue is that Newton is larger than most of the players the Steelers would have on the field in their sub packages.
"It's a really good offense," said Cameron Heyward. "When we get the chance to hit Cam (Newton), we've got to hit him. If that means getting 11 guys to the ball, that's what we've got to do."
HISTORY LESSON
In January, 2007, the Steelers were looking for a replacement for head coach Bill Cowher, who had come to an agreement with the team following the 2006 season to resign after 15 seasons with the team.
It was assumed at the time one of Cowher's assistants, either offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt or offensive line coach Russ Grimm would be elevated to the job.
But the Steelers were doing their due diligence and Whisenhunt got another offer -- from the Cardinals -- and took that job.
That left the Steelers with three finalists, Grimm, Rivera — then the Bears' defensive coordinator — and Tomlin, who had just completed his first season as Vikings defensive coordinator.
"We are pleased with the progress of our search to date," Steelers president Art Rooney II said Jan. 15 of that year in a statement issued by the team. "We now will move into the second interview phase and we are confident that each of the candidates on our short list will be excellent head coaches in the NFL. It is our task to determine which one is the best candidate for the Pittsburgh Steelers at this point in time.
"Our time frame remains as it was in the beginning," he added. "We will conclude the search when we have found the best coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers."
Just eight days later -- after speaking with Grimm, Rivera and Tomlin for a second time -- the Steelers made a decision. They hired Tomlin, then largely an unknown as just their third head coach in 38 years.
A month later, Rivera was surprisingly let go by the Bears. But he wasn't out of work long. He was hired by the San Diego Chargers as their inside linebackers coach and a year later, named defensive coordinator there.
Carolina hired him Jan. 11, 2011 as their fourth head coach and he's gone 69-49-1, while also leading the Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2015.
That head coaching position never materialized for Grimm. He joined Whisenhunt in Arizona after being passed over for the Steelers' job and retired as the offensive line coach of the Tennessee Titans after the 2017 season.
The Steelers? They did OK with Tomlin. He has posted a 121-62-1 record in his 11-plus seasons, leading the Steelers to two Super Bowls and winning once.
THE MAIN MATCHUP
As much respect as the Steelers have shown for the talents of Kuechly and Davis, the Panthers have been equally respectful of what Brown brings to the game.
In fact, Newton joined Brown in Miami during the offseason because he wanted to see how the All-Pro receiver attacked his famous workouts.
Now, the question will be if the Panthers will show Brown even more respect and have their top cornerback, James Bradberry, follow him all over the field. Bradberry is one of the seemingly growing number of corners who do follow the opponent's top receiver each week, as he did last week against Tampa Bay's Mike Evans. Evans managed just one catch for 16 yards on 10 targets last week.
The 6-foot-1, 212-pound Bradberry is the perfect matchup for some of the bigger receivers in the NFC South, such as Evans, Julio Jones of Atlanta or Michael Thomas of New Orleans.
But will the Panthers put him on the shifty, speedy Brown, or use Bradberry against the bigger Smith-Schuster, leaving rookie corner Donte Jackson to match up on Brown?
Jackson leads the Panthers with four interceptions, but covering Brown has proven to be a monster task for nearly every corner in the league, even though his numbers are down this season -- 51 catches, 594 yards and a league-best nine touchdown catches.
"They're doing some great things on the back end," said Brown, who is on pace to extend his league record to six consecutive 100-catch seasons. "They've got a rookie corner with exceptional speed, so we're going to be up for a big challenge."
Roethlisberger has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league this season against man defenses -- thanks to his plethora of weapons -- but the Panthers play more zone defense than any team in the league.
Opponents have tried to take Brown out of the equation for the Steelers all season and it's resulted in better numbers for Smith-Schuster (53 catches, 672 yards and two scores).
"It’s always fun to find out who they’re maybe going to travel with Antonio," Steelers offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said. "Without a doubt, in every game, something happens, someone is traveling. The quicker you can find that out, maybe the better.
"It’s a compliment to some degree, but Antonio knows that in every pattern or every time something is called, he has to have a plan and that doesn’t matter if (Jackson) is on him or (Bradberry) or the nickel, (Captain Munnerlyn). He’s got to execute his plan that he was going to do no matter who was on him, knowing that some guys who may be on him are quick, some guys are maybe more handsy, some guys don’t use their hands, some guys want to put their hands on you and grab you. So that’s always in the week’s film study, and sometimes that’s a little hard with a three-day, four-day week."
Brown is always up to that challenge, as Newton saw when he visited with him.
“He still goes like he has something to prove,” Newton said. “I got even more respect for him spending those couple of days with him and his family, and seeing how he works and grinds."
THE QUOTES
• “I have so much respect for Ben – Super Bowl winning quarterback who has won a lot in this league. (He's) very cerebral, very good understanding of what defenses try to do. For him to be such a big guy, he’s real good with his feet and being patient in the pocket – that’s what I’ve learned from him.” -- Newton on Roethlisberger
• "I think one of the beautiful things about this game is oftentimes the things that define a man aren't things that you can measure. They're not 40-time related, vertical related, height, weight, speed related; it's more the will on display, the intellect, the mental toughness, and Mike is just an example of that, but I'm sure there's many examples on every one's team of that, and I think that's one of the things that makes us all love the game the way that we do." -- Tomlin on nickel corner Mike Hilton
• “You tell me based on usage." -- Tomlin on who his starting cornerback is opposite Joe Haden, where Coty Sensabaugh has gotten all of the defensive snaps the past two games at the expense of Artie Burns
THE TEN DATA POINTS
• This game pits two of the top red zone offenses in the league against each other. The Steelers are second, having converted 18 of 24 (75 percent) trips inside the 20 into touchdowns. Carolina is fifth at 21 of 29 (72.4 percent).
• Conversely, the Steelers are 12th in red zone defense with 13 stops in 28 trips (53.6 percent). The Panthers are 31st with only four stops in 20 trips (80 percent).
• The Steelers lead the all-time series against the Panthers 5-1, winning the past five in a row, including a 3-0 record in Pittsburgh.
• The Steelers are 37-17 in games played in primetime under Tomlin since the start of the 2011 season. But they are just 7-6 in Thursday night games in that span.
• The Steelers are 25-8 in primetime games played at Heinz Field since it opened in 2001.
• With a win, Roethlisberger would match Peyton Manning for the second-most regular-season wins with one team in NFL history with 136.
• Conner enters the game leading the NFL in 20-yard runs (8) and 100-yard rushing games (5).
• The Panthers have allowed 55 receptions for 613 yards and seven touchdowns to opposing tight ends this season. The receptions and touchdowns are the most in the NFL.
• McCaffrey has rushed 23 times for 86 yards in three games on the road this season as opposed to 86 times for 416 yards in five games at home.
• Moore has a rushing attempt in six of the Panthers' eight games this season.
THE FANTASY FREE PLAY
Here are projections for the top 10 fantasy players in this game.
- Newton, 264 yards passing, one touchdown, one interception, seven rushes, 40 yards
- Roethlisberger, 302 yards passing, two touchdowns, one interception
- Conner, 20 carries, 88 yards, one touchdown, five receptions, 48 yards
- McCaffrey, 13 carries, 54 yards, six receptions, 52 yards
- Brown, eight catches, 94 yards, one touchdown
- Vance McDonald, five receptions, 52 yards, one touchdown
- Greg Olsen, five receptions, 48 yards, one touchdown
- Smith-Schuster, six catches, 78 yards
- Devin Funchess, four receptions, 60 yards
- D.J. Moore, three receptions, 46 yards
THE STAFF PICKS
Our football coverage team offers predictions:
Dale Lolley: The Panthers have a dynamic offense with Newton and McCaffrey running the ball and McCaffrey catching it. But Funchess as a No. 1 receiver on the outside isn't scaring anyone. Olsen is getting mixed back into the equation after missing more than a month with a foot injury. The Steelers, meanwhile, have a dynamic offense of their own. As long as the Steelers take care of the ball, they should win this game. Carolina is fourth in the league in turnover ratio at plus-8, having forced 15 and committed just seven. The Steelers are minus-3 in turnover ratio, with half of their 12 turnovers having come in the opener at Cleveland. The Panthers also are just 1-2 on the road this season and 5-0 at home. With the game being at Heinz Field where the Steelers are 25-8 in primetime games, I'll go with the home team on the short work week. Steelers, 27-23
Christopher Carter: The Panthers represent the biggest test of the Steelers run defense to date, ranking second in the NFL in rushing yards per game. Led by McCaffrey, they’ll challenge whether the Steelers’ improved tackling numbers are legit. If the Steelers keep the Pather's preferred run-heavy attack in check, they can force Newton to throw into their designed sub packages. The Panthers’ defense won't be easy to run on, but Roethlisberger should find plenty of one-on-one opportunities with Smith-Schuster and Brown for chunk plays. Steelers 26-17.
Matt Sunday: Newton and his Panthers are playing some 'super' football, but so are the Steelers. McCaffrey is capable of changing the game on the ground or through the air, but so is Conner. Newton has some legs that can get the work done on the ground as well, and Roethlisberger ... well, Ben had a sneak for a touchdown on Sunday. Both defenses are playing well, but the Steelers have more playmakers on the offensive side to eventually expose Carolina's defense. Vegas has the Steelers at -4, just a point better than a typical home field advantage, and I like it. Steelers, 31-27
Dejan Kovacevic: There are components to Carolina's game that should concern the Steelers, predominantly the running game. As much improvement as the defense has shown, it hasn't faced a rushing attack close to the Panthers, No. 2 in the NFL with a 143.9-per-game average. And lest anyone need a reminder, their last opponent this proficient on the ground was the Jaguars in the playoffs. That said, in a short week of preparation, I'll take the team that can come with the most surprising options, and that's Roethlisberger in the no-huddle. But it'll be tight. Steelers, 28-24