without their franchise-tagged offensive spark.They also just played their best game in what could be the last one without him.The Steelers dominated the Panthers 52-21 James Color Rush Bradberry Jersey , in a performance that couldn’t have been better with any player added to the mix.Ben Roethlisberger had a flawless night, mathematically and figuratively.He was 22-of-25 for 328 yards and five touchdowns, for a perfect 158.3 passer rating. He also got to watch the last 11 minutes tucked safely on the sidelines, as backup Joshua Dobbs enjoyed the longest mop-up duty ever.Meanwhile, their defense kept pressure on Cam Newton throughout the night, sacking him five times (he had only been sacked 12 times this season) and picking him off once (with Vince Williams returning it for a touchdown). It was an eye-opener for a team which had won three straight Ian Thomas Jersey , triggered by coming back from a 17-point deficit to beat the Eagles.There wasn’t much to quibble over or worry about for the Steelers, other than running back James Conner being taken to the locker room to be evaluated for a concussion.Now, they get to wait to see if Le'Veon Bell comes back by next Tuesday’s deadline. But it’s also reasonable to wonder what they’d do with him if he came back, as they’ve now won five straight and have no apparent weaknesses at the moment. Welcome to SB Nation FanPulse, a survey of fans across the NFL powered by SurveyMonkey. Each week, we send 32 polls to 100+ plugged in fans from each team. Panthers fans Curtis Samuel Color Rush Jersey , sign up HERE to join FanPulse.A three-week losing streak has had a predictable affect on the confidence of Panthers fans. This week’s FanPulse survey shows fans at a new season-low for confidence in their team. Only 15% of fans said they were confident in this team going forward. Funnily enough, the graph looks a lot like something else to me.That’s right, it looks strikingly like the Panthers season-to-season win totals under current head coach Ron Rivera. That doesn’t mean that every fan is placing the blame for this season’s disappointments at his feet. When asked if Rivera was the right coach for the Panthers going forward, 51% of respondents said no. 48% said yes. That is a far cry from the 85% who aren’t confident in the team as a whole.Technically a majority of fans polled are against Rivera, but his job isn’t based on a popularity contest. He isn’t running for an election in 2020 (probably). His constituency consists of Marty Hurney and David Tepper. He isn’t going anywhere until they decide he is a liability for their business. It turns out a large section of the Panthers fanbase is currently okay with that.
