Last week against the Patriots was not the best showing for the Panthers defense. After a strong start, the defense caved, allowing the Patriots to score on each of their final six drives. If there's any silver lining to be found, it'd be in the first quarter performance of the defense. Tom Brady and company were only able to generate 3 points and 46 yards of offense in the first quarter, which projects to a very low output for a full game. It's performances like this that we'll need to see out of the defense for this team to be successful. However, the 2's and beyond did not play up to this standard on Friday night. Tonight's game against the Steelers will provide them with one last chance to find their groove before the season starts. We probably won't see much, if any, of the starters tonight, so this is a great opportunity to see what the Panthers have in the way of depth.
Being the final preseason game, it's hard to know exactly who and what we'll see. Still, let's try to take a look at how the two teams match up while the Steelers have the ball.
Panthers Rushing Defense vs. Steelers Rushing Offense
The Steelers backfield has made headlines recently for all the wrong reasons. Their 1 - 2 punch of Le'Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount got cited for marijuana-related offenses (Insert Blount puns here). However, it's looking unlikely that either player will face significant punishment in the 2014 season and both are expected to play in tonight's game. On the whole this preseason, the duo have produced underwhelming totals, accruing just 92 yards on 29 total carries and failing to find the end zone. The rest of the group have not fared much better. The Steelers as a whole have yet to find the end zone via a rushing attempt thus far this preseason and are averaging a paltry 2.86 yards per carry. The aforementioned duo of Bell and Blount are backed up by a trio of rookies, including speedster Dri Archer, who ran a blazing 4.26 40 yard dash at the combine. Behind him are two undrafted free agents Josh Harris and Stpehen Houston.
The Panthers will be looking to build on their strong showing against the Patriots ground game. The Patriots backfield was held in check all game, even when the defense started to falter against the pass, as none of New England's four backs were able to average 4 yards per carry. Given what we know about the two teams, it's hard to see the Steelers having success on the ground against a formidable Panthers front 7.
Panthers Passing Defense vs. Steelers Passing Offense
We likely won't see Ben Roethlisberger tonight, so expect to see Bruce Gradkowski and Landry Jones under center for most of the night. Until Gradkowski's very strong performance against the Eagles last week (8/11, 105 yards, 2 touchdowns), neither of the pair had been overly impressive. In the first two weeks, the duo struggled pushing the ball down the field, averaging very low yards per pass attempt numbers. This style of quarterbacking plays right into what the Panthers want to do in defending the pass. The Panthers will look to keep everything in front of them while trying to pressure the Steelers' QBs into mistakes.
The weapons these QBs will be targeting feature some names that will be familiar to a lot of CSR folk. Starting opposite Antonio Brown (Though I'd be surprised if Brown played tonight) is Oregon State product Markus Wheaton. Wheaton was a popular choice among Panthers fans as a potential 2nd-3rd round pick in the 2013 draft. After Wheaton is former Saints WR Lance Moore, who fits the mold of recent Steelers WRs being on the small side. The Panthers secondary will have to play much better than last week if they want to experience success. Pittsburgh's WRs pose a similar look to what the Panthers saw last week when McDermott's unit struggled mightily against the pass.
Overall Outlook
It's hard to know what to expect in the final preseason game. Most starters won't play and teams will be very careful to keep important players out of harm's way. On paper, it looks like the Panthers defense has the edge over the Steelers here, but there's no telling what's in the cards tonight. While it would be nice to see the Panthers get a win going into the regular season, the final score of this game is ultimately meaningless. What we'll see tonight will mean next to nothing in the grand scheme of things. It's just another chance to enjoy Panthers football before the real bullets start flying.