Antonio Brown ran wild against the Carolina defense Sunday night. (Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ben Roethlisberger threw two third-quarter touchdown passes to wide receiver Antonio Brown, and the Pittsburgh Steelers used a key play on special teams to ward off the Carolina Panthers 37-19 Sunday night at Bank of America Stadium.
All three of the quarterback’s touchdown passes this season went to Brown.
Both teams are 2-1.
The Panthers’ eight-game regular-season home winning streak ended, with hundreds of towel-waving Steelers fans in the crowd dominating the scene in the waning minutes.
Pittsburgh running back Le’Veon Bell rushed for 147 yards on 21 carries. Steelers running back LeGarrette Blount scored the last touchdown on an 8-yard run, and he finished with 118 yards on 10 attempts.
Roethlisberger completed 22 of 30 passes for 196 yards with no interceptions. Carolina quarterback Cam Newton was 24-for-35 for 250 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. He didn’t play the last series.
A third-quarter turnover set up the game’s first touchdown and helped Pittsburgh pull away.
Linebacker Jarvis Jones’ sack of Newton dislodged the ball, and linebacker Jason Worilds recovered at the Carolina 17.
The Steelers appeared to be headed toward their fourth field goal, but the Panthers jumped offside. On the next play, Roethlisberger hit Brown with a 7-yard touchdown toss.
Roethlisberger and Brown connected on another 7-yard touchdown play with 2:22 to go in the third quarter. That came after Bell’s 81-yard dash on a second-and-22 play altered the landscape.
Trailing 23-6, the Panthers struck quickly after converting a fourth-down attempt, with tight end Greg Olsen scoring on a 37-yard pass from Newton with 13:28 remaining.
The Panthers forced a three-and-out, but Carolina returner Philly Brown muffed a punt. Pittsburgh safety Robert Golden recovered the batted ball in the end zone for a touchdown with 11 minutes left, putting the Steelers ahead 30-13.
Carolina backup quarterback Derek Anderson threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, a first-round draft pick, with 3:53 to go. Benjamin finished with eight receptions for 115 yards.
The Steelers lost Jones (wrist) and veteran cornerback Ike Taylor (forearm) to third-quarter injuries. Jones didn’t play after his fumble-causing sack. Taylor went out a few minutes later. He was hurt when he was making a tackle, as a teammate, linebacker Lawrence Timmons, barreled into him.
Pittsburgh controlled much of the first half with its defense and took a 9-3 lead to the break.
Newton completed 12 of 17 passes for 117 yards before halftime, but he took several solid hits a week after returning from a preseason rib injury.
The Steelers, backed up to their own 4-yard line after a penalty, moved to the Carolina 3-yard line before stalling and settling for Shaun Suisham’s 24-yard field goal with 5:37 left in the second quarter. The kick gave Pittsburgh a 6-3 lead after a 16-play possession that included Roethlisberger’s fourth-and-1 sneak from the Carolina 10.
Pittsburgh made it back to the Carolina 24 in the final minute of the first half. Guard David DeCastro’s post-whistle penalty for a personal foul disrupted the drive before Suisham’s 45-yard field goal on the half’s last play.
Roethlisberger went 15-for-22 for 134 yards in the first half.
Carolina’s first possession resulted in Graham Gano’s 40-yard field goal to cap a 58-yard march.
Pittsburgh matched that on Suisham’s 42-yarder with six seconds left in the first quarter, set up by a 42-yard pass interference penalty on safety Thomas DeCoud.
NOTES: Carolina WR Jerricho Cotchery was inactive for the game, missing a chance to go against his former team. Cotchery, who spent the past three seasons with the Steelers, has a hamstring injury. WR Jason Avant started in his place. … RB Darrin Reaves was signed to the active roster from the Carolina practice squad. … Pittsburgh won four of the five previous meetings, though the teams hadn’t met in the regular season since 2010. … The Panthers play next week at Baltimore in a clash with Ravens WR Steve Smith, who was a career record-setter with Carolina. He wasn’t retained by the Panthers after last season. … Pittsburgh returns home to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Sunday.
