Steelers thrash Panthers in preseason finale, 39-24

The Carolina Panthers conclude the preseason with a 3-1 record…

All good things must come to an end, right? That was the case for the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night as they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the preseason finale by a score of 39-24.

In the first quarter, it was all Pittsburgh. Former Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs ran the ball in from three yards out to aid the Steelers to a 7-0 lead following an extra point from Chris Boswell at the 9:56 mark. Dobbs managed to get it done with his arm later in the quarter at he threw a 27-yard pass to Tevin Jones at the 5:10 mark for a touchdown. Another Chris Boswell extra point made it a 14-0 game and no points were scored for the remainder of the quarter.

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The Carolina Panthers offense began to show some life in the second quarter. Taylor Heinicke, who was slated to start the game found the birthday boy Mose Frazier for a six-yard touchdown pass to make it a 14-7 game. For Frazier, that was his only catch of the night and he certainly made it count. Scoring at the 13:59 mark, that gave Carolina some early momentum. The momentum was stopped at least for a little bit when Chris Boswell (he was busy tonight) put a 21-yard field goal through the uprights to make it a 17-7 game. Unfortunately, the Steelers were not done. Tevin Jones scored another touchdown, a 24-yard strike from the arm of former Oklahoma State Cowboy Mason Rudolph to make it a 25-7 game, a score that would hold when the teams’ broke for halftime.

The Panthers got a drive going to begin the third frame, but alas they could not find the pylon. Instead, Graham Gano showed off his leg as he kicked a 54-yard field goal through the uprights to narrow the deficit to 25-10. Throughout the entire night, it seemed as though once the Carolina Panthers scored, the Steelers would come right back. An efficient seven-play, 84-yard drive ended with a touchdown snag from Quadree Henderson via the arm of Mason Rudolph and that made it a 32-10 game.

The Steelers would continue to pour it on as Jarvion Franklin reached the pylon from a yard out and that made it a 39-10 game. Carolina would make a bit of a comeback in this one as Reggie Bonnafon would rush for a touchdown while Bug Howard would recover a fumble for a touchdown to make the final score 39-24.

Kyle Allen was the star of the night going 25-of-39 while throwing for 250 yards and a touchdown. Cameron Artis-Payne led all Panthers running backs with five rushes for 35 yards. Rasheed Bailey was the top wideout for the Panthers, snagging six catches for 68 yards.

The Carolina Panthers next game will be against the Dallas Cowboys (at home!) on September 9 in the regular season opener. Kickoff time is 4:25 PM.