Ben Roethlisberger has had some big games in the course of his career, but he might have played his best Thursday night against the Panthers.
Roethlisberger had just three incompletions on 25 pass attempts, throwing for 328 yards and five touchdowns on a short week, posting the franchise's most points in Heinz Field history in a 52-21 final that wasn't as close as that score might indicate.
Roethlisberger posted the fourth perfect 158.3 passer rating in his career and first since 2007. But this one was different from the others, which were accomplished early in his career when he was more game manager than maestro.
His five TD passes went to five different players, including a 75-yard bomb to JuJu Smith-Schuster on the Steelers' first offensive play of the game.
The result was a big win for the Steelers -- their fifth in a row -- that improved them to 6-2-1 and firmly established them among the top teams in the NFL after beating a team in the Panthers (6-3) who had won their previous three games.
"It was a good win," Ramon Foster said. "We were hearing we hadn’t really played against anybody. But we just played the No. 1 defense (Baltimore) and we played one of the best teams in the NFC, and on a short week. We’ve just got to continue to keep it going."
If Roethlisberger and the defense continue to play as they have, the Steelers will be awfully tough to beat.
Moments after Roethlisberger's long pass to Smith-Schuster, the defense came up with a play that started Heinz Field rocking when linebacker T.J. Watt came in on Cam Newton untouched. The 6-foot-5, 248-pound Newton tried to twist away from Watt and heaved the ball out of his end zone toward the middle of the field.
Vince Williams appeared out of nowhere and picked the ball off and returned it for a score, giving the Steelers 14 points in just 13 seconds.
"I was trying to make a play on the quarterback," Watt said. "I was trying to get him down the best I could. But he threw the ball and I saw Vinnie picked it off, and I was happy for him."
That was the Steelers' plan in this game -- hit Newton as much as possible -- even if it meant allowing speedy running back Christian McCaffrey to get loose every once in a while.
That happened twice in the game, as McCaffrey caught two touchdown passes on simple wheel routes down the sideline. But that was largely all the Panthers' offense could muster as they managed just 242 yards of total offense. Newton was sacked five times and the Steelers forced a pair of turnovers, including a forced fumble by Roosevelt Nix on a kickoff return in the third quarter.
"I think overall, our defense came out ready to play," Stephon Tuitt said. "I know they scored on that first drive. They’re a good team and they made some good plays. McCaffrey is a good player, and Cam Newton. But I think overall we did a good job."
But this night belonged to Roethlisberger.
Of his three incompletions, two were on passes that hit Smith-Schuster in the hands. His other came on a dumpoff to backup running back Stevan Ridley.
He didn't lead a full drive that didn't end in some kind of points, with only the clock stopping the Steelers at the end of the first half.
Otherwise, he was doing this with Antonio Brown:
Or this with Vance McDonald:
"Taking what was there," Roethlisberger said of his approach. "Obviously, the first play was a big one. After that (it was) taking some short stuff. From there, it was trying to read what they threw at us. They threw a lot of different looks and blitzes at us. I thought Randy Fichtner called a great game and the players made great plays."
And Roethlisberger was there to orchestrate it all.
"He was very locked in," said Morgan Burnett, who knows a little something about good quarterback play, having come to the Steelers from Green Bay, where he worked with Aaron Rodgers. "He’s as good as advertised. He’s a Hall of Famer. When he goes out and does things like that, it just proves to everyone he’s great. You're just glad you’ve gotten the opportunity to play against a guy like that, but to have him on the same team and see the work ethic behind the scenes, he’s special. It’s a lot of fun to watch."
Except if you happened to be on the other sideline.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GAME BALLS
My top three performers:
1. Ben Roethlisberger
Steelers quarterback
Roethlisberger was 22 of 25 for 328 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions while also running three times for 27 yards before leaving early in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand.
2. Cam Heyward
Steelers defensive lineman
Heyward only had three tackles, but two were sacks and he added two quarterback hurries.
3. Christian McCaffrey
Carolina running back
It's tough to pick a Panthers player in a rout like this, but McCaffrey had 138 total yards and three touchdowns on just 19 touches. He had 14 carries for 77 yards and a score and caught five passes for 61 yards and two touchdowns. He really was the only Panthers player to shine in this one.
THE GOOD
After getting to the quarterback on a regular basis in their first six games, the Steelers had just four sacks in their previous two games, wins over Cleveland and Baltimore.
Yet in this game, they got to Newton five times and also had seven other hurries, as they kept Newton in the pocket. He entered the game with 342 rushing yards, by far the most of any quarterback in the NFL.
Newton managed just 193 yards passing and rushed for 10 yards on two carries.
"You wanted to eliminate the big throws downfield and then eliminate the big plays with his legs," Burnett said. "I think guys did a good job up front of containing him and keeping him in the pocket and not giving him much time or room to make those extended plays."
That very much included Watt, who forced Newton's bad throw that was intercepted by Williams, and also had this sack and forced fumble that killed another drive.
"We just wanted to get a hit on him whenever we could," Watt said.
THE BAD
While the Steelers did contain Newton, that left McCaffrey free to make some plays.
The Steelers had outside linebackers Watt and Bud Dupree split wider than usual, which allowed them to use their speed and angles to keep Newton in the pocket, but it also created some creases for McCaffrey to exploit.
McCaffrey had 40 yards rushing on five carries and a 20-yard touchdown catch on the opening possession.
"On the zone reads, definitely," said Watt of the attention the Steelers paid to Newton. "We had certain calls where I was going right for him and just trying to take away the zone-option reads. You know they are going to have one or the other and if you take away one option, you know what they are going to do the rest of the time."
McCaffrey scored all three Carolina touchdowns and recorded the best day of any opposing running back against the Steelers this season, posting 138 total yards (77 rushing, 61 receiving).
But the Steelers weren't unhappy with the results.
"The game plan worked very well," Burnett said.
THE PLAY
After the Panthers drove the length of the field to open the game, the Steelers needed to answer.
They did with a flourish.
Corner James Bradberry, who was matched on Smith-Schuster while rookie Donte Jackson drew Antonio Brown, bit on a Roethlisberger pump fake to James Washington.
Washington didn't have a catch in the game and has just seven receptions this season. That allowed Smith-Schuster to streak down the sideline.
It was a big mistake in coverage and one of many in this game for the Panthers in the secondary.
"I was going to throw it (and) saw them rolling coverage to play a little soft from the outside, so James was out there," Roethlisberger said. "I was going to throw it to him. It looked like I kind of pump faked but I was going to throw it to him. The safety that came down was jumping that and that let JuJu go up the seam. I tried to take as much air off it and put it on a line to get it to him as fast as I could. He turned on the burners and outran everybody."
THE CALL
There weren't many penalties called in the game -- just six overall and only one on the Steelers. But one that was called came late in the third quarter on a scramble by Roethlisberger.
As he got upfield, safety Eric Reid came charging up and as Roethlisberger slid, went flying into him, catching the quarterback in the face with his shoulder. That started a little melee that included the Steelers entire offensive line pushing and shoving with the Carolina defensive backs.
"You’ve got to be there for your guy," said guard David DeCastro. "The intent was obviously there to do what he did. We were just trying to stand up for him and show him we’ve got his back."
DeCastro wasn't the only one unhappy with the play. So was official Walt Coleman's crew. They ejected Reid from the game.
"I think it’s just offensive linemen protecting their quarterback," said center Maurkice Pouncey, who gave Reid a pretty good face wash under his facemask. "I will say Eric Reid came over and apologized. I have a lot of respect for him for doing that. Before that apology, it wasn’t acceptable."
Reid did approach Roethlisberger before leaving the playing field and offered his apology for the play. But Roethlisberger appreciated his linemen coming to his defense.
"Those are my guys," Roethlisberger said. "When it happened, I popped up and the next thing I saw was those two guys (Pouncey and DeCastro) running and the cavalry right behind them, so I got out of the way. It doesn't surprise me, either, because I know how close we are. (It) makes you feel pretty good, though."
THE OTHER SIDE
The Panthers came in riding high and just a game behind New Orleans in the NFC South standings. Now, they have to hope the Saints -- who just knocked off the unbeaten Rams last week -- stumble twice to have a chance to catch them.
"It kind of came crashing down on us early," said Carolina tight end Greg Olsen. "We could never regrasp the momentum at that point. There's really not a whole lot of positives to take out of a game when you lose like that."
Said Newton, "We just got whooped, man. It happens. You'll have games like that in the league. It's going to be about how we rebound and get ready for our next opponent."
THE INJURY UPDATE
• James Conner, running back, left the game in the third quarter after experiencing concussion symptoms. Conner, who came into the game with four consecutive 100-yard rushing games, had 65 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. He is in concussion protocol.
• Marcus Gilbert, offensive tackle, did not play for the third-straight game because of a knee issue.
• Daniel McCullers, nose tackle, did not play because of an ankle injury.
THE SCHEDULE
The Steelers are off now until next Wednesday, when they'll return to practice to begin preparations to face the Jaguars in Jacksonville Nov. 18. The next team event will be the Tomlin news conference at noon next Tuesday, but we'll have continued coverage here throughout the weekend.
THE COVERAGE
Visit our Steelers team page for everything from this game.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers vs. Panthers, Heinz Field, Nov. 8, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS