Sep 21, 2014 4 min read

There’s panic in the streets. People are predicting last-place finishes and top-10 draft picks.

And we’re two games into the season for the Steelers.

The Steelers are 1-1, having beaten Cleveland at home and lost to the Ravens in Baltimore.

Anybody who looked at those two games objectively could have predicted those two outcomes. And yet, the sky is falling.

Are people so quick to forget the 0-4 start of last season? That was a time to panic.

This? Not even close.

The Steelers rallied from that 0-4 start to finish 8-8. The offense got better. The defense got better. They made adjustments.

It would have been easy for the Steelers to quit after starting 0-4. It would have been easy to pack things up and start thinking about next season.

That didn’t happen.

Yes, the Steelers have some issues. Overall, their run defense has been poor. But much of that has been because they have allowed seven runs of 15 or more yards. On the other 59 carries, they have allowed 2.9 yards per carry.

When you do something well most of the time and poorly on occasion, it leads me to believe the issue is fixable.

As for the offense, there is nothing wrong with it that a healthy Lance Moore can’t help fix.

Signed to be the Steelers’ slot receiver this offseason, Moore missed the first two games with a groin injury. That didn’t matter against Cleveland.

But the Ravens exploited that inexperience last week, forcing Justin Brown to fumble on his first reception. He didn’t catch another pass.

That won’t happen to Moore.

The Steelers play at Carolina tonight after getting embarrassed in Baltimore.

As we saw with Atlanta’s Thursday night win over Tampa Bay, it’s really easy for the road teams to get embarrassed playing on a short week. The Thursday night matchups have produced three blowouts by the home teams this season.

And then there are these issues: four days ago, the Panthers had seven starters sitting out practice with a myriad of bumps and bruises, including both starting offensive tackles.

Carolina also will be without Pro Bowl defensive end Greg Hardy, who is on the commissioner’s exempt list following his conviction on two counts of domestic violence.

Finally, the Panthers likely won’t attempt to spread the field to run against the Steelers. They’ll line up with a fullback and try to pound the ball against them. It’s how they do things.

And the Steelers have shown they can stop that kind of attack. Their issues have been with teams that run the zone stretch.

Pittsburgh is a 4-point underdog, and I’ll go with the team that is healthy and feels it has something to prove against one that is banged up.

Take the Steelers to win, 23-21

There’s an open lane to the basket. Take the layup.

Take New England, 34-13

The Bears rallied to beat the 49ers on the road last week. The Jets came from ahead to lose at Green Bay.

Take Chicago, 26-20

Seahawks at home in a Super Bowl rematch. Yeah, I’ll bite.

Take Seattle, 27-17

Kansas City’s beaten up offensively and defensively.

Take Miami, 23-13

Colts blew a 14-point second half lead last week. Won’t happen again.

Take Indianapolis, 24-10

Cardinals have a good defense, but Carson Palmer is out and Drew Stanton will start at QB.

Take San Francisco, 20-13

The Chargers just won their Super Bowl last week against Seattle and now have to head east.

Take Buffalo, 24-20

The Ravens typically stumble after beating the Steelers, but Cleveland won its Super Bowl last week against New Orleans.

Take Baltimore, 23-17

The Eagles can’t afford to fall behind by 14 for a third straight week and mount a second-half comeback.

Take Philadelphia, 31-20

The Bengals are a little beaten up. But not enough to lose at home.

Take Tennessee to cover in a 23-17 loss

Cowboys should have enough to outscore St. Louis’ popgun offense.

Take Dallas, 27-17

The Lions will rebound from a poor showing in Carolina last week.

Take Detroit, 28-24

How in the world did the Giants get so bad so fast?

Take Houston, 23-16

Saints, coming off a loss, get the Vikings without Adrian Peterson.

Take New Orleans, 31-10

Last week: 4-11 ATS; 6-9 straight up

Overall: 11-19 ATS; 15-15 straight up

F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.