Pittsburgh at Carolina

The Panthers have been a great team to back in exhibition play over the past few years. Their win over the Giants in game one ran their streak to 15-2, but since then they have lost and lost big. They lost 10-27 to Philadelphia in week two and followed that up with a 7-24 loss to New England las week. Carolina has been besieged with injuries the past couple of years, and that may have caused a re-assessment for John Fox and his emphasis on winning in the preseason. Jake Delhomme looked bad last week and the offensive line with some changes, has been totally out of sync. Delhomme opened 3-10 for 14 yards, was sacked three times, fumbled, and threw an interception for a TD. The intensity is not the same as past exhibition seasons. The Panthers have allowed 21, 27 and 24 points. They got their win in week one (barely) but the subsequent no-shows tell us that the approach has in fact changed. With the season right around the corner, and the fear of injuries fresh in mind, we think Carolina takes it easy again this week. Mike Tomlin, in his first year as a head coach has a different agenda. Looking back, the Steelers went 3-1 on their way to a Superbowl win in 2006. Last year they went 0-4, and the season followed suit. The new coach is fostering a winning attitude in 2007 and the Steelers once again are 3-1 coming into this one. The Steelers have bowed their backs under Tomlin, and have allowed just one touchdown in six attempts in the last two games. We like the Steelers mindset over what we have seen from the Panthers. We see Pittsburgh scoring quite a bit in this game with the game going OVER and the Steelers keeping it close or winning.