Steelers vs Panthers - Preseason Wk 4 - Thoughts and Reactions

Emmanuel Sanders' Beauty of a TD Reception

The Steelers finished the preseason 3-1 after defeating the Panthers 17-16 last night (thanks it part to a classy move by Ron Rivera - Panthers Head Coach - by going for 2 points after scoring what could have been the game tying TD).  No one wanted to see that game go on any longer than it had to.  Nonetheless, there was plenty of football to watch, and you know that I have some thoughts and reactions about this game:

- Steelers Backups Prove Worthy - Guys like Charlie Batch and Jerrod Johnson played well, and there were some awesome plays made.  Emmanuel Sanders' 37yd TD catch from Chuck Batch was a thing of beauty.  Wes Saunders represented himself well (if he only wasn't suspended the first 4 games of the regular season...) and Chris Rainey proved how explosive he really can be, even though both of his Punt Returns were wiped away by penalties.  Give this kid an inch, and he'll take a mile...and that is a good thing!

- Injury Bug Bites Again - I told everyone that reads the Black n' Gold Blitz to say an extra hail mary, or whatever prayer they say, and not even the heavenly beings could keep the Steelers healthy.  The depth of this team will be tested as another rookie went down with a knee injury.  Rookie ILB - Sean Spence - the same guy I wrote a piece about how he made for "quality depth" is almost certainly done for the year.  Rumors are that he has a torn ACL, LCL, and a dislocated kneecap.  If you saw the injury, you know this guy is done for the season.  With Stevenson Sylvester on the shelf for at least the first 2 weeks of the season, does James Farrior get a phone call?  Not to start, but to help fill in some depth.  I don't see why not...

- Turnovers Better Carry Over to Regular Season - The Steelers had another turnover in the form of a forced and recovered fumble on a punt return.  That makes 8 turnovers for the Steelers in 4 preseason games.  They had 15 in 16 games last year.  I know its the preseason, but I sure as hell hope that they continue this trend into the regular season. 

- I've Seen More Fans at a HS Football Game - Look at the picture above...I don't blame fans for not going.  NFL needs to do something about it, but like Mason wrote yesterday, Game 4 of the NFL Preseason is a Necessary Evil.

There isn't much more to talk about since Mike Tomlin finally took my advice and rested the majority of the Steelers' starters against the Panthers.  Now comes the time where the Steelers find out which players get to wear numbers on the front of their helmets (if you never noticed during the preseason the Steelers don't put numbers on the front of ANY Players helmets....when they make the team, they get the helmets numbers on the front).  Should be for an exciting time as some difficult decisions will have to be made by Mike Tomlin and company to get their roster down to the 53 that is required by the NFL.