Thursday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers will wrap up their preseason schedule on the road against the Carolina Panthers. The fourth preseason game of the year isn’t much for fans to watch as it seriously lacks star power. But for the coaching staff and the players, this is huge.
Here are the three big storylines for Thursday’s game.
Which young players will step up?
With the changes in cutdown rules, the Steelers haven’t had to trim the 90-man roster to this point. This means you are going to see plenty of guys on the roster bubble on the field tonight with one last audition before the August 31 deadline. We are going to be keeping a close eye on linbackers Tuzar Skipper and Ulysees Gilbert III to secure spots, as well as wide receivers Diontae Spencer and Johnny Holton.
Already thinking about the Patriots
As much as the Steelers’ staff wants to focus on the Panthers, you have to believe the coaches have the Patriots on their minds. The Steelers have to go on the road and take on the world champions in Week 1, which is the toughest opening weekend challenge since the Steelers lost to the Patriots in Week 1 the last time.
Just stay healthy
No matter what else happens, we don’t want to see any significant injuries Thursday night. These young guys are going to be going full speed trying to impress coaches and we can’t blame them. But no one wants to see a season-ending injury fighting for a roster spot.
