Tale of 2 teams
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson has long said he wanted his young franchise to emulate the family-run Pittsburgh Steelers.
As the teams meet to close the exhibition schedule tonight, the Panthers have plenty of catching up to do on and off the field.
An injury-ravaged preseason full of missed tackles, few touchdowns and no wins was overshadowed this week by the stunning resignations of Richardson's two sons from high-ranking jobs with the team.
The rift in the family leaves no clear successor to the 73-year-old owner seven months removed from a heart transplant. Although Richardson hired TCU athletic director Danny Morrison as team president Wednesday, he's yet to explain the resignations or his future plans with the team.
The Steelers, meanwhile, remain the definition of front-office stability — and appear in much better shape on the field, too.
Coming off its record sixth Super Bowl title, Pittsburgh, in its 76th year under three generations of ownership by the Rooney family, seems ready for the regular season.
Ben Roethlisberger, recovered from a right foot injury, led two scoring drives in a 17-0 win over the Bills Saturday. The Steelers' defense looks as dominating as ever, too.
With the Steelers to play the regular-season opener next Thursday against Tennessee, don't expect to see the starters for more than a series or two tonight. The night belongs to the fringe players trying to make the 53-man regular-season roster and the competition for backup jobs on the offensive line.
"There is no question their appearance is going to be a short one. That is the nature of it," coach Mike Tomlin said of the first units. "They are going to have some teammates fighting until the bitter end to play well and make this football team. Those guys understand that process."
Panthers coach John Fox didn't play his starters at all in the final exhibition game last year before they went 12-4 and won the NFC South. But the first units will play some tonight, a final chance to gain some confidence in what's been an unimpressive 0-3 preseason.
The first-team offense has scored one touchdown in six quarters, while the defense has been plagued by injuries and poor tackling. After struggling to defend the run in the first two games, Baltimore's Joe Flacco picked apart Carolina's secondary Saturday in the Ravens' 17-13 win.
"We'll tighten it up and make sure everything is fine," defensive tackle Damione Lewis said. "We didn't do a lot of blitzing to keep them off-kilter. I think as we get going and steadily put in our game plan getting ready for that first game we'll have a lot more in our package."
Lewis could be lining up next to a new face tonight. Louis Leonard, acquired from Cleveland, is the latest stopgap following Maake Kemoeatu's season-ending torn Achilles' tendon.
But Carolina will again be without middle linebacker Jon Beason, whose status for the Sept. 13 opener against Philadelphia is in doubt because of a sprained knee. Running back Jonathan Stewart, who has participated in eight of 48 practices because of a mysterious Achilles' tendon injury, won't play tonight.
Pittsburgh has some injury concerns. Running back Willie Parker (hamstring) has missed the past two games and receiver Santonio Holmes (back) is banged up. Linebacker Lawrence Timmons (high ankle sprain) won't play for a first-team defense that hasn't allowed a touchdown in the preseason.
But Tomlin's eye is going to be on the backups, and there will be extra emphasis on whom performs well two days before the final cuts.
"If they're going to be a guy who makes a run or potentially makes this team for the first time, it'll usually be because they're improving, and they'll be a guy on the rise," Tomlin said. "And this fourth performance will probably be their best one."
