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The preseason finale. Words no fan ever wants to hear. The fan base is so close to games that really count, yet seemingly so far away, as they have to sit through a tortuous display of backups simply trying to do enough on the field to win themselves a spot on the team's 53-man roster.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has already stated that the 'established starters' won't be playing in the final preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night. That means no Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Le'Veon Bell or Heath Miller. You might expect that several defensive starters could possibly see some time, but it's likely to be brief, so make sure to time your bathroom breaks accordingly.
Picking preseason games is difficult, as was evident in my previous four predictions this preseason. Quite frankly, it's a crap shoot. Add in the weird scores with coaches going for two-point conversions and you've got yourself a difficult task in making a prediction.
But a little challenge never stopped Steelers fans, so we ask you to make your prediction using the tool below. Simply set your score, and it will be tallied, tabulated and calculated to see which fan base is smarter - BTSC or the Panthers SB Nation blog "Cat Scratch Reader." We all know which one is better, so now's the time to prove it.
Jeff Hartman's Pick (Editor of BTSC):
Steelers: 29
Panthers: 28