Early deficit too much for Panthers

PITTSBURGH—The Carolina Panthers fell behind early and never recovered.

Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense used an early surge and a first-quarter defensive touchdown to jump out to a big lead as the Steelers pounded the Panthers 52-21 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory.

“I tell you what, it sure enough was a humbling piece of pie,” Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said. “It was a learning experience for a lot of guys. If we are as good as we expect us to be, we have to find a way to win games in a hostile environment.”

The Panthers (6-3) saw their three-game winning streak come to an abrupt halt in a city where they’ve never won. Carolina fell to 0-4 alltime in Pittsburgh and was never really in it after the Steelers scored 21 points in the game’s first 11 minutes.

“We had a lot of our noses bleeding early on and we just have to stop it,” Newton said. “We need to find ways to keep things going in our favor. We just got outplayed today.”

Roethlisberger finished 22 of 25 passes for 328 yards with five touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. The Steelers, who punted for the first time with 9:34 to play, were 8 of 9 on third down with Roethlisberger in the game.

Newton completed 23 of 29 passes for 193 yards and a pair of flips to Christian McCaffrey that the second-year running back turned into scores.

The Steelers sacked Newton five times and rarely let him get comfortable as the Panthers’ offensive line struggled against the pass rush. Entering Thursday’s game, Carolina allowed just 12 sacks, second-fewest through eight games in franchise history.

The Steelers’ 52 points are tied for the most ever allowed by the Panthers in franchise history. The last time it happened came during a 52-9 loss, Dec. 24, 2000, against Oakland.