Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on Thursday threw for five touchdowns as they dismantled the Carolina Panthers 52-21 for a fifth straight victory.
Seven different Steelers players scored touchdowns and Roethlisberger was flawless — setting the tone with a 75-yard touchdown pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster on Pittsburgh’s first play from scrimmage.
“That’s a big win for us,” Smith-Schuster said after the Steelers improved to 6-2-1, despite the continuing absence of contract holdout Le’Veon Bell.
Photo: AFP
Roethlisberger posted a Steelers record 88 percent completion percentage, connecting on 22-25 passes for 328 yards, and watched most of the fourth quarter from the sidelines.
“We just found ways to capitalize in ways we needed to in order to get a win,” said the veteran quarterback, who also connected with Antonio Brown, Vance McDonald, Jesse James and rookie Jaylen Samuels with scoring passes.
Linebacker Vince Williams returned an interception for a touchdown and James Conner ran into the end zone before leaving the game in the second half to be evaluated for a concussion.
The Panthers saw a three-game winning streak halted as they fell to 6-3 for the season.
Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was sacked five times, twice by Cam Heyward.
Steelers defender T.J. Watt forced the pick-six by Williams when he pressured Newton into a poor throw from his end zone.
“They did some good things against us and we made too many mistakes early on,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said.
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