Carolina Panthers vs Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Picks, Odds, Predictions 8/27/2021

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Carolina Panthers meet in NFL preseason action from Bank of America Stadium on Friday night.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will look to finish the preseason strong after improving to 3-0 with a 26-20 win over the Lions last time out. Mason Rudolph threw for 138 yards on 13 of 18 passing while Ben Roethlisberger threw for 137 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Dwayne Haskins also tossed for 56 yards on 4 of 7 passing. Kalen Ballage led the Steelers in rushing with 7 carries for 30 yards while Eric Ebron led the Steelers with 59 receiving yards on 4 catches. Najee Harris had 53 receiving yards and Diontae Johnson added 43 receiving yards while JuJu Smith-Schuster had a team-high 5 grabs for 39 yards and Pat Freiermuth recorded both of Pittsburgh’s receiving touchdowns. On defense, Miles Killebrew led the Steelers with 6 total tackles including 5 solo tackles while Marcus Allen and Jamir Jones combined for Pittsburgh’s lone sack in the win.

The Carolina Panthers will look to bounce back and get their first win after falling to 0-2 in the preseason with a 20-3 loss at the hands of Baltimore last time out. Will Grier threw for 144 yards on 11 of 14 passing while Chuba Hubbard led the Panthers with 24 rushing yards on 9 carries. Terrace Marshall Jr. had a team-high 3 catches for 50 yards while Shi Smith and the aforementioned Hubbard each had a pair of catches with Smith logging 35 receiving yards while Hubbard had 29 receiving yards out of Carolina’s backfield. Josh Bynes led Carolina’s defense with 9 total tackles while Clay Johnston had 8 total tackles and a team-high 6 solo tackles in the losing effort.

Pittsburgh is 23-8-2 ATS in their last 33 games as an underdog and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games overall while the under is 39-13-1 in their last 53 road games. Carolina is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 home games and 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games as a home favorite while the under is 5-2 in their last 7 home games.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with how the Steelers took their foot off of the gas against Detroit, giving up a pair of late TDs to give Detroit the backdoor cover. However, I’ve seen nothing from Carolina in two preseason games that makes me want to back them here. Pittsburgh’s been the better team across the board and at all levels of the depth chart and getting a free field goal feels like a gift to end the preseason. Give me Pittsburgh and the points here.