It is pretty much the case in just about every road game, but it was highly noticeable in the Steelers' 24-16 win at Carolina on Sunday.
Shortly after Najee Harris bounded into the endzone for his 7-yard touchdown run on the Steelers' first possession of the game, the CBS broadcast cut to a close-up of his celebration. But, what stuck out was the background, as the teal seats of Bank of America Stadium were mere specks among the Steelers' trademark black jerseys and a sea of Terrible Towels:
And it was not just during the game where Steeler Nation showed out. Just look at this video from DK as he made his way into the stadium on Sunday:
🔊 Sound up! pic.twitter.com/EuZc6R2CVr
— Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) December 18, 2022
The thing is, this was just about expected on Sunday. That's coming straight from the mouth of Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks, who made the call for Panthers fans to make their presence felt in order to block out the expected influx of Steelers fans on Sunday.
“Definitely wanna talk to our fans, who I feel like are the best fans in NFL football,” Wilks said last week. “Definitely want those guys to come out and support this team in high fashion, and to keep those Steelers fans out of Bank of America Stadium.”
Mission failed.
"It was awesome," Alex Highsmith said on Monday inside the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "The Steeler Nation, they're the best fans in the NFL. I've always heard that whenever we play Carolina it's always more Steeler fans, and so I definitely witnessed that yesterday. It was crazy, but really, just a shout out to them, because we've got the best fans in the league. Just seeing them week in, week out show up, it's awesome."
Takin over 😤#HereWeGo | #SNUProud pic.twitter.com/LfqeYb2NZs
— SteelersNationUnite (@SteelersUnite) December 18, 2022
Of the 73,548 paid attendance announced at Bank of America Stadium, it's easy to assume that a minimum of half -- maybe 60 to 70 percent -- of those were Steelers fans. The Steelers travel better than just about any road team in the NFL, and the fanbase is one of the most popular across the United States and across the globe.
Here is one piece of evidence to that: According to data from Statista, the Steelers' 3.7 million followers on the team's Twitter account rank as the third-highest in the NFL, behind New England (4.6 million) and Dallas (4.2 million).
But considering the stakes applied to this final stretch of the season, it has not been surprising in the least to see this swelling of Steelers fans in attendance on the road. One major concept at stake is the late-season push for a postseason spot, which is still mathematically possible to attain.
"Every game is a home game," Terrell Edmunds said Monday. "It's a close flight (to Charlotte). We love our fans, and we're excited to see them each and every week. We know that every game we can just feel comfortable out there, knowing we're going to have the support from everybody."
There is also a team history component of the final run of the season. Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season as the Steelers' head coach, and the franchise's last losing season was the 6-10 mark attained in 2003. The Steelers have finished at .500 (8-8) four times since. Last year, in the first since the NFL diverted to a 17-game schedule, the Steelers went 9-7-1. One more loss for the 6-8 club over the final three games of the season would mark a losing record.
"To me, I take pride in it," Minkah Fitzpatrick said Monday. "I told (Tomlin) earlier today, 'I don't want to be on the team that snaps that winning season streak.' I know that Coach T is a guy that takes a lot of pride in what he does, and I'm a guy that takes a lot of pride in what I do, so if I could do anything I can to keep that streak alive, I'll do it."
MORE FROM THE SOUTH SIDE
• The Steelers have a short week in preparation for Saturday night's game against Las Vegas at Acrisure Stadium. Monday's open locker room session was relatively quiet, as is the norm on Mondays, as few players trickled in and out while going to meetings. Tomlin even made a cameo, as has been a more common occurrence than usual over the latter portion of the season.
But, what conversations we did have with Highsmith, Edmunds, and Fitzpatrick gravitated toward preparation for the Raiders, a team which has been an enigma this season. Las Vegas (6-8) has blown three leads of 17 points this season, and nearly lost a fourth on Sunday if not for New England's historic blunder of laterals to hand the Raiders the game.
• Las Vegas has two All-Pro-caliber weapons on offense in running back Josh Jacobs and wide receiver Davante Adams, which will need to be the defense's focal points if the Steelers want to keep postseason hopes and the winning season alive.
Jacobs leads the NFL in rushing yards with 1,495 -- 192 more than second place, Tennessee's Derrick Henry -- and his 11 rushing touchdowns are tied for fifth in the NFL and are three off the pace set by Detroit's Jamaal Williams.
"Jacobs is a really good running back," Fitzpatrick said. "They've been feeding him a lot this year. He's one of the top rushers in the league right now, but they've got a couple of weapons back in (Darren) Waller and (Hunter) Renfrow, so we're going to smash the run but definitely expect them to get the ball to the play makers."
Adams is tied for the NFL lead with 12 receiving touchdowns, he is fourth in receiving yards with 1,275, and he is seventh in the NFL with 86 receptions.
"He's a dynamic guy," Edmunds said. "I wouldn't say you could technically take away a dynamic guy like that, but just limit his targets and limit his catches."
