Moderatoren Talk » Why is AB having a tantrum?Little surprised.

Ben Roethlisberger‘s first pass went for a touchdown. His last did the same. And in between the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and his red-hot team put together systematic 52-21 dismantling of Carolina on Thursday night that left little doubt about their depth and their talent regardless of whether Le’Veon Bell ever shows up for work or not.Ten different Steelers touched the ball on offense. Six of them scored. None of them were named Bell. While the three-time Pro Bowl running back tweeted his thoughts from home while waiting — and waiting — to sign his one-year franchise tender James Conner Jersey White , Pittsburgh ripped off its fifth straight victory with stunning ease.“Really big performance against a really good team on a short week so there is a lot to be proud of,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. “But we are probably not that good.”Maybe not, but Pittsburgh (6-2-1) looked every bit the part of legitimate contender in the AFC, perhaps for the first time this season.Roethlisberger completed 22 of 25 passes for 328 yards and five touchdowns while posting a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3. James Conner, who has filled in capably during Bell’s self-imposed sabbatical, ran for 65 yards and a score before being evaluated for a concussion late.Antonio Brown added eight receptions for 96 yards — including a 53-yard touchdown in the second quarter — to cap an eventful day that began with the star wide receiver being cited for reckless driving after police clocked Brown’s Porsche driving over 100 mph down a busy highway in the northern city suburbs.“This is what we expected,” Roethlisberger said. “We knew we were going to have to put up a lot of points. We did that. The defense, they were playing like their hair was on fire.”Bell has until next Tuesday to sign a contract if he wants to play this season. His teammates have long since tired of talking about Bell’s status and at this point.“I’m not going to comment on someone who’s not in the locker room right now,” Roethlisberger said.And why bother? For three hours on Thursday night Pittsburgh looked every bit as potent without Bell as it did with him. If he returns, they insist they’ll welcome him with open arms. If he doesn’t Womens Jerome Bettis Jersey , they are intent on keeping the train rolling.The Panthers (6-3) saw their three-game winning streak come to an abrupt halt in a city where they’ve never won. Carolina fell to 0-4 all-time in Pittsburgh and was never really in it after the Steelers scored 21 points in the game’s first 11 minutes.Cam Newton completed 23 of 29 for 193 yards and a pair of flips to Christian McCaffrey that the second-year running back turned into scores, but Newton’s showdown with Roethlisberger never materialized. The Steelers sacked Newton five times and rarely let him get comfortable. McCaffrey finished with 138 yards total offense (77 yards rushing, 61 yards receiving) and accounted for all three Panther touchdowns but it wasn’t nearly enough.“We had a lot of our noses bleeding early on,” Newton said. “We’ve got to stop it and keep things going in our favor. We just got outplayed today.”Newton didn’t help matters when he threw off his back foot out of the Carolina end zone while trying to avoid getting sacked in the first quarter. Pittsburgh linebacker Vince Williams raced under the floater and returned it 17 yards for a touchdown to give the Steelers a 14-7 lead they never came close to relinquishing.Roethlisberger’s rainbow to Brown put Pittsburgh up 31-14 at the half and when Roethlisberger found Vance McDonald in the back on the end zone on the Steelers’ first drive of the second half, the competitive portion of the evening was over. Pittsburgh’s 52 points matched the most ever surrendered by the Panthers in franchise history. Carolina allowed the same total in a 52-9 loss to Oakland on Dec. 24, 2000.“They did some good things against us,” Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said. “We made too many mistakes early on to give ourselves an opportunity to win a football game.”REID TARGETS ROETHLISBERGERCarolina safety Eric Reid was ejected in the third quarter after being called for targeting when he dived at Roethlisberger’s head as the Pittsburgh quarterback was sliding at the end of an 18-yard scramble.Several Steelers, most of them offensive linemen, took exception with the hit and a brief scrum ensued. Pittsburgh center Maurkice Pouncey said Roethlisberger offered to pay any fines the linemen may accrue for sticking up for him.Reed, signed by Carolina in September Jerome Bettis Jersey , walked over to Roethlisberger and apologized before being escorted to the locker room.“I understand the NFL is trying to protect quarterbacks but when they’re running the ball they’re running backs,” Reid said. “I’m not thinking that ‘It’s Ben, don’t tackle him.’ There’s a guy running with the ball so I’m doing my job.”PAYING TRIBUTERoethlisberger and Newton both wore cleats during the pregame that paid tribute to the 11 members of the Tree of Life synagogue that were killed in a mass shooting last month. Roethlisberger’s cleats featured the names of all 11 victims while Newton’s cleats read “Hatred Can’t Weaken a City of Steel.”UP NEXTPanthers: Travel to Detroit on Nov. 18 to take on the Lions. Carolina is 6-2 all-time against Detroit.Steelers: Visit Jacksonville on Nov. 18. The Jaguars beat Pittsburgh twice on the road last season, including a 45-42 upset in the divisional round of the playoffs.Steelers vs. Chiefs Week 2: Knee Jerk Reactions from the Steelers defense-less loss to the Chiefs Vince Neil of M枚tley Cr眉e claimed to be a dreamer with a heart of gold that had to run away high so he didn’t come home low. But I think he was at his most poignant when he sang...”Im on my way. I’m on my way. Home, Sweet, Home. As Week One’s tie flummoxed those in Steelers Nation, I was feeling cautiously optimistic leading up to what I presumed to be a fireworks show at Heinz Field. So if you want to know how my emotions fluctuated throughout the day, keep on reading.Nonetheless, a simple reminder, a knee jerk reaction is an immediate and unthinking James Conner Jersey , emotional reaction. It’s basically shooting first and apologizing later. I can safely say that’s a true definition of your’s truly and a good lot of Steeler Nation. Here’s my real-time reactions during the Steelers battle with Andy Reid and the KC Chiefs.1st QuarterJim Furyk back home leading the Terrible Towel wave. Cool.It’s amazing. Kind of knew that Ben would go deep to Washington on the first play. If fans and media complain thet somebody needs to get involved, they typically do it right away. Kind of predictable.Mahomes has poise on the pocket. Conley, against the zone, was wide open. Team just honored Billy Hillgrove for 25 years in the booth. Great ovation.It’s early, but Ben looks way off again.The crowd has completely given up on Berry. The boos were deafening.They left Watkins and Kelce all alone. Steelers need to score on this drive. If not we are witnessing the beginning of the end.Washington is in there a lot.AB was open. Ben just plum missed him.Conner with the spinaroonie in the open field.Welcome back Tony Toe Tap.Can’t settle for three.Can’t even get three. Ouch. Gonna be a long drive home.Leave it to the Steelers to make Sammy Watkins look like a superstar.Edmunds plain blew that stop. Gotta tackle.Mahomes is for real.They got lucky there on the hold. People are leaving.If they don’t do something soon, I’m going to have to drown my sorrows at the Pierogie House.Quarter 2Jesse James was wide open. Nice.Nice look from Ben too.Crowd is back in a big way.Dude next to me snubbed me on the high five. I’m dejected.Offense can’t let up. Need to cut it to seven.Switz can add a really good dimension to this team.Was that s Big Dan sighting? He does exist.That was a perfect drive.Bos(not-so)well. What in the name of Kris Johnson is going on?Jeff Hartman and I picked James as a sleeper to have a huge game.James Wow-shington.This place is electric now.Quarter 3What a great half. But can’t revert back to Q1.Reverting back.Missed assignment. Watt can’t be covering guys deep.This defense couldn’t stop up a toilet.AB and JuJu may very well be the best receiving duo in the NFL.Ben is overthrowing these guys. They’re getting separation.Got lucky on the pass interference.Thought No. 30 was short.This will get reversed.I can’t believe they let Ridley play .Quarter 4Six TDS are ridiculous. This defense is undisciplined.Lucky bounce to be at the one.Gotta bring it. Need the safety.Just got hot sauce in my eye. Crap! My eyes are like the Steeler secondary. Burned.Really brought it on the safety. Huge.Gotta take advantage now. No TD here and it is over.Another penalty on Vance. C’mon man. Crowd is mad. But tough to go for it with 9:16 left.Here we go. Need seven and luck.JJ and JuJu. Clutch.Vintage Ben. I can’t take this. Wow. Needed a three and out. That first down killed them.Well. That sucked. ...So...now as I replay the game more and more in my head, my perceptions will alter. But for now, you just got a glimpse of the first thoughts that popped in my mind while I was watching this game. Feel free to get your commentus maximus on in the comment section.