While they rarely meet when the games count, these two franchises share a fascinating, unique bond. For nearly two decades, the Steelers and Panthers made it a tradition to play each other in the final game of the NFL preseason. It became a legendary annual evaluation ground for coaches to decide the final 53-man rosters.
The story of this matchup actually began with a shock to the system. In just their second year of existence, the 1996 expansion Carolina Panthers pulled off a gritty 18-14 victory over a seasoned, battle-tested Steelers squad. It looked like the birth of a fiercely competitive cross-conference rivalry. NFL Pittsburgh Steelers vs Carolina Panthers
Pittsburgh marched into Charlotte and delivered a crushing 37-3 defeat, suffocating the Panthers' offense entirely. While they rarely meet when the games count,
