Big Ben tosses five TDs as Steelers rip Panthers
Carolina’s winning streak halted in Pittsburgh where they’ve never won
>> PITTSBURGH: Ben Roethlisberger threw touchdown tosses to five different teammates on Thursday, and the Pittsburgh Steelers rolled over the visiting Carolina Panthers 52-21 for their fifth consecutive win.
Roethlisberger threw for 328 yards on 22-of-25 passing for Pittsburgh (6-2-1). Antonio Brown made six catches for 96 yards and a touchdown.
Christian McCaffrey ran for a touchdown, added two scoring receptions and piled up 138 total yards for Carolina (6-3). Cam Newton passed for 193 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, and he was sacked five times.
“I tell you what, it sure enough was a humbling piece of pie,” 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 saw their three-game winning streak come to an abrupt halt in a city where they’ve never won. Carolina fell to 0-4 all-time in Pittsburgh and was never really in it after the Steelers scored 21 points in the game’s first 11 minutes.
The Steelers turned the game into a rout in the first half despite Carolina scoring first.
McCaffrey accounted for 60 of the 75 yards on the Panthers’ opening drive, and he scored on a 20-yard pass from Newton.
Pittsburgh answered with one play — Roethlisberger’s 75-yard throw to JuJu Smith-Schuster for a 7-7 tie at 10:18 minutes.
Thirteen seconds later, TJ Watt chased Newton into the end zone, and the quarterback heaved the ball out of desperation. Vince Williams picked it off and returned it 17 yards for a touchdown and a 14-7 Steelers lead.
James Conner’s two-yard touchdown run boosted the lead to 21-7 late in the first quarter. Chris Boswell’s season-long 50-yard field goal at 9:46 minutes of the second quarter made it 24-7.
McCaffrey’s second touchdown catch cut it to 24-14, but Roethlisberger hit Brown for a 53-yard scoring pass with 3:08 minutes left in the first half to make it 31-14.
The Steelers kept it going in the third, with Roethlisberger finding Vance McDonald in the back of the end zone from 12 yards out to push it to 38-14.
Carolina safety Eric Reid got ejected for hitting Roethlisberger in the head at the end of a 17-yard run with 1:15 minutes left in the third. Two plays later, Roethlisberger threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Jesse James to make it 45-14.
Pittsburgh’s Roosevelt Nix knocked the ball loose from return man Curtis Samuel on the ensuing kickoff, and Anthony Chickillo recovered at the Panthers 7. That set up rookie Jaylen Samuels’ first career touchdown, a six-yard catch, on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 52-14.
McCaffrey punched it in from two yards out to make it 52-21 with 5:35 minutes to go.