Mark my words: This will be a special season!

The team looked good. Starters didn't even play. Baby, we look so good :-)

---

Reed kicks Steelers past Panthers
Associated Press

PITTSBURGH -- As Carolina's starters left the field following pregame warmups, coach John Fox was waiting with a surprise: They were getting the night off.

It's merely an illusion that, except for Jeff Reed and Rashard Mendenhall, the Pittsburgh Steelers' offense has been resting for a couple of weeks.

Reed kicked his fourth field goal of the game and his eighth in less than a week, a 43-yarder on the last play, and the Steelers beat the Panthers' backups 19-16 on Thursday night in the final exhibition game for both teams.

Carolina, holding out 25 players, didn't do much offensively except for three field goals by John Kasay until No. 3 quarterback Brett Basanez threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Chris Hannon with 1:54 remaining. Fox opted to kick the extra point and try for overtime, something most coaches look to avoid in games that don't count.

"If it there was a little less time I probably would have (gone for a 2-point conversion) but, either way, we were going to have to stop a two-minute drive," Fox said.

The rest is here.