NFL Week 16 - Recap: Pittsburgh Steelers cruise past Carolina Panthers 27-3
In a game between teams on opposite ends of the NFL spectrum, Pittsburgh Steelers cruised past Carolina Panthers 27-3 on Thursday night.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger showed off Steelers’ deep passing game. He threw for 320 yards and a touchdown.
“It was huge for us,” nose tackle Casey Hampton said following Steelers' businesslike win. “If you get a bye, it gets you closer to the Super Bowl. Anything can happen in the playoffs, and you want to play the least games as possible.”
Roethlisberger ended 22 of his 32 passes and no interceptions. Mike Wallace had 4 catches for 104 yards and a touchdown in his 6th 100-yard receiving game, one off John Stallworth's team record. Rashard Mendenhall had 18 carries for 65 yards and a touchdown.
Already in the playoffs, the Steelers (11-4) will wrap up the AFC North and a first-round bye if the Baltimore Ravens (10-4) lose to Cleveland Browns (5-9) on Sunday.
"It's great to be in the clubhouse for the weekend with a necessary win and now we can watch the other (teams) sort themselves out," said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
"We were far from perfect, but we were good enough to win tonight."
If the Browns do not upset the Ravens at home, Steelers can clinch a victory over the Cleveland on 2nd January. Either way, the Pittsburgh look to be in good shape.
"There's some hardware out there for us, the AFC North title, and that more than anything is what we're focused on," coach Mike Tomlin said.
Steelers bounced back from Sunday's 22-17 to the New York Jets, which ended their four-game winning streak.
Steelers held Carolina (2-13) to just 7 first downs and 119 yards of offense while collecting 22 first downs and acquiring 408 yards.
In the fourth quarter, John Kasay notched 27-yard field goal for the Carolina which continues to have the NFL's worst record.
Rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen completed 10 of 23 passes for 72 yards and Jonathan Stewart averaging 115 yards in his previous 4 games, ran for 71 yards on 18 carries. There were no real bright spots in the Carolina's offense.
“We’ve obviously had our struggles at that position,” said coach John Fox, who has used four quarterbacks in the NFL’s worst-ranked offense. “That was pretty solid defense we played. Offensively, it wasn’t very good.”
The Pittsburgh’s tight end Heath Miller led all receivers with five catches for 73 yards, including a 20-yard grab that helped set up Steelers’ first points.
Steelers got a 3-0 lead on their first series of the game when Shaun Suisham kicked 26-yard field goal.
Early in the second quarter, Wallace's TD made it 10-0 when Roethlisberger made a pass to speedy Wallace who stretched it an extra 38 yards down the middle of the field for the score.
The Pittsburgh continued to pour it on. With 1:54 left before halftime, Roethlisberger’s 35-yard completion to Sanders on second-and-18 led to Mendenhall's 1-yard touchdown run.
Suisham made a 29-yard field goal and gave the Pittsburgh a 20-0 halftime lead, but Steelers were unable to capitalize when Panthers fumbled the ensuing kickoff. At the end of halftime, Suisham lost wide- right on 41-yarder.
With 5 minutes left in the third quarter, Pittsburgh got 27-0 lead when a short Panthers punt and 22-yard pass interference penalty resulted in a TD of Roethlisberger's one-yard keeper.
Panthers did not get on the board until Kasay's 27-yard field goal with just 8:29 left in the play.
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