Next nuisance for Steelers 'D' is Cam Newton

It gets no easier in their next game for a Steelers defense that has allowed 50 points over the past six quarters. It becomes more complicated because the defense that continues to have problems stopping running backs now will try to take on a running quarterback.

Cam Newton rushed for 2,032 yards in his first three seasons with the Carolina Panthers and he must be drooling at the chance to add to those numbers against a leaky Steelers defense when they play Sunday night in Charlotte, N.C.

Newton ran for just 19 yards on four carries Sunday but completed 22 of 34 passes for 281 yards and one touchdown in Carolina's 24-7 victory against the Detroit Lions. It was Newton's first game after he missed the opener with a cracked rib.

Newton's presence and his abilities will prompt a change in how the Steelers play defense, which might not be a bad thing for them considering how they played in the first two games.

"You just want to make sure the whole defense is on one accord pretty much," linebacker Lawrence Timmons explained. "There are a lot of changes when you have an agile quarterback -- he's really not normally accounted for in the game. You're thinking about the backs, and now you have to account for the quarterback like Cam Newton."

They will need to account for him better than they did, say, Terrelle Pryor, who ran up the middle against them on the Raiders' first play in Oakland in October 2013 for a 93-yard touchdown. They will do so, Timmons suggested, by using him and fellow inside linebacker, rookie Ryan Shazier, differently.


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I don't think Newton will run a lot against the Steelers, with his gimpy ankle and lingering rib injury. They used the hurry up against the Lions in the second half with a lot of success. The longest completion for the Panthers was 24 yards; I think we'll see a lot of the same: hurry up offense and short passes. Not sure about their offensive line. Steelers have to find some pressure from somewhere.

I think Cam start's out running, but then tires and just start's to walk around line.