Pittsburgh Steelers Dash Panthers Playoff Hopes

The Carolina Panthers have been disappointing all season and today’s slaughter at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers was the final straw. With Jake Delhomme still out because of a thumb injury, the hapless Carolina Panthers offense was no match for the Steelers as Pittsburgh held the Panthers to only 3 points while scoring 37 of their own. The Panthers now hold a record of 6-8 and have been eliminated from the playoffs. The Panthers have now lost four straight games and have two games left in the regular season at the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints.

It looked like the Carolina Panthers might be able to get something going at the start of the second half. Playing for the injured Delhomme, Chris Weinke threw to Keyshawn Johnson who caught the ball at the Steelers’ 35-yard line and scraped his feet inbounds before falling out of bounds. The officials signaled the first-down, but then the Steelers challenged the call and the officials then reversed their decision. The Panthers were moved back to midfield on third down and nine. Weinke was sacked, and thus ended the Panthers’ hopes of rallying and keeping their post-season hopes alive.