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Two hot teams meet at Heinz Field on Thursday night when the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers (6-2) have won three straight victories, including Sunday's 42-28 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Steelers (5-2-1) have won four straight games after defeating the Baltimore Ravens 23-16 on the road.
The Steelers resumed their season when the defense began to play better. They have only allowed 21 points over their last four games, including a big effort in Baltimore on Sunday, while they had allocated 16 points, the lowest of the season.
"We're growing every day," said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. "The guys get better and better, technically, they develop their knowledge, their understanding of the situation, and when you play, you produce plays, you minimize negativity, and these two things happen at the same time." I've made some games and I hope we have prevented some games with this approach. "
This defense will be put to the test by Carolina, who has scored 78 points in her last two games against the Ravens and Buccaneers and has scored 30 points or more in four of her last six games.
A quarter of the Panthers, Cam Newton, play well again. He ranks 10th in the league for the smuggler rankings. In the three-game winning streak, he completed 69.9% of his passes with six touchdowns and no interceptions. Newton has also collected 342 yards on 73 runs this season.
Running back Christian McCaffrey became the versatile goal the Panthers had hoped he would become. He has 880 scrum yards and five touchdowns.
"You should start with Cam Newton because he can run it, he can run it," said Tomlin. "He's strong, he can do all the shots accurately from the distance point of view, but I really think what's going on with him is just watching the infusion of roles between him and McCaffrey." are able to do.
"These are multidimensional players who work really well together, McCaffrey is playing more snaps than any other offensive player in football, leading them into receptions (49), he is a pressing threat, just like Cam Newton. these two guys are working and that what (offensive coordinator) Norv Turner can do with these two guys really creates problems for their opponents and especially lately. "
Turner has recently expanded the game book by using more tips.
"He's ready to call him," said Panthers head coach Ron Rivera, about Turner's use of gadget games. "The most important thing is that we use the right kinds of guys – Norv creates things and assembles them."
Newton hesitates, however, to call them gadget games.
"We do not necessarily call them cheats because we work a lot, and the way we play them is like any other game," he said.
The return of forward Greg Olsen contributed to the Carolina attack. He missed three games with a broken foot early in the season, but he had 15 assists with three touchdown receptions in the three-game winning streak.
Defensively, Carolina is tough in the race, placing eighth in the league in fast defensive.
The defense, led by linebackers Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly, will be challenged by Steelers running back James Conner, second in the NFL with 706 rushing yards and four straight games in the 100-yard mark.
The Panthers will also face Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who said the no-nonsense offense could be an important part of the plan because of the short preparation time.
"We've been doing it for a while," said Roethlisberger. "We know it, we know it pretty well, we did it very well in Baltimore and we can only keep up with the pace and the tempo."
Roethlisberger is third in the league in passing yards, and has eight touchdowns and two interceptions in the four-game winning streak.
The wide receiver Antonio Brown is a problem for any defense, even if his numbers are down this season. He totals 51 assists and averages 74.2 yards per game, placing him 21st in the league. He participated in five receptions for a total of 42 passing yards Sunday against the Baltimore.
The Steelers have won their last five games against the Panthers and are 3-0 against Carolina in all-time games played in Pittsburgh.
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