Initial Reactions to the Panthers' Loss to Pittsburgh

The Carolina Panthers fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday afternoon, 24-16. The loss drops Carolina to 5-9 on the season and two games out of first place, should the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat Cincinnati later today.

Below are a few quick thoughts from today's game.

Punched in the mouth

Pittsburgh came right out of the gates with bad intentions. They beat Carolina in their own game of running the football and dominating both sides of the line of scrimmage. 

The Panthers failed to get the ground game going in the first half, which is obviously a major issue. Carolina ran the ball for just 14 yards on 10 carries and D'Onta Foreman averaged just 0.5 yards per carry.

Keith Taylor's bad day

C.J. Henderson went down early in the game with an ankle injury, which forced Keith Taylor to play a larger role than the Panthers anticipated and the Steelers went at him time and time again. For much of the first half, Taylor was matched up on George Pickens and it didn't pan out all that well. Taylor gave up a big 38-yard pass down the sideline on third down. Arguably the most damaging play of the day came late in the fourth quarter when Carolina had Pittsburgh behind the chains, 3rd & 14, and he allowed Diontae Johnson to secure the catch and move the sticks. Well, that was until the next set of downs. Trubisky went right at Taylor again on 3rd & 6 and once again, Johnson picked up the first.

Terrace Marshall made plays

The Panthers have been waiting for Terrace Marshall Jr. to become more of a factor in the offense and today, he was certainly that. He pulled down a catch along the sideline for a gain of 40, had a one-handed catch in the second half, and then drew a defensive pass interference penalty midway through the fourth quarter, placing the ball inside the Pittsburgh five.

Failed opportunities

Carolina had the ball in the red zone twice in the second half, yet came away with six points on those two drives - two field goals. After the DPI on Sutton that moved the ball inside the five, Carolina worked it down to the two but went in the wrong direction after that and had to settle for three. If they're able to come away with a touchdown on at least one of those drives, it could have changed the outcome of the game.