Two teams headed for January football Louis Lipps Jersey , the Panthers and Steelers, get to test their mettle on Thursday night.Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin, who’s 1-1 in Super Bowls, isn’t admitting any postseason thoughts are in the minds of his players or himself. But he has to like how the Steelers have performed in four straight victories.“I’m not trying to look for specific areas, I just try to challenge these guys to get better every day,” Tomlin says.“That’s what we’re focused on. I think that if we do that daily that will give us a chance to produce consistent performances that are on the rise. Not only in the second quarter (of the season) but as we continue through this journey.”That journey has Carolina (6-2), ranked fifth in the AP Pro32, at No. 7 Pittsburgh. The Steelers (5-2-1) are a 5½-point favorite in the week’s best matchup.The Panthers have won three straight and five of six. They are particularly strong running the ball, though Pittsburgh is stingy in that area on defense.Carolina trails New Orleans by one game in the NFC South and leads the wild-card chase. Pittsburgh has a half-game lead in the AFC North over Cincinnati.This could come down to the final play, which would be a treat to begin Week 10.STEELERS, 33-31KNOCKOUT POOL: Pro Picks is on a roll, and the Bears kept it going. This time, we’ll buy into underachieving (or under skilled perhaps) GREEN BAY.No. 20 Dallas (plus 6 1-2) at No. 11 PhiladelphiaYes, it’s a bitter-rivalry game. But Eagles come off a bye, Cowboys off a poor showing.BEST BET: EAGLES, 27-16No. 1 New Orleans(minus 4 1-2) at No. 12 CincinnatiWith Eagles up next, Saints could stumble here. They won’t.SAINTS, 31-23No. 13 Seattle (plus 10) at No. 4 Los Angeles RamsThat’s a lot of points for a game that many Seahawks fans will attend.RAMS, 30-23No. 29 Arizona (plus 16 1-2) at No. 2 (tie) Kansas CityPro Picks rarely is afraid to lay so many points. So …CHIEFS 40, CARDINALS 22No. 22 Detroit (plus 6 1-2) at No. 10 ChicagoFirst of two meetings in less than three weeks.BEARS, 22-14No. 15 Washington (plus 3) at No. 25 Tampa BayRedskins’ record could plummet with all those O-line injuries.BUCCANEERS, 33-31No. 2 (tie) New England (minus 6 1-2) at No. 17 TennesseeBrady has Patriots in their usual fine November form.PATRIOTS, 31-19No. 14 Atlanta (minus 4) at No. 27 ClevelandAre the injury-ravaged Falcons in midst of a turnaround?FALCONS, 26-20No. 6 Los Angeles Chargers (minus 10) at No. 32 OaklandWe ask once again: Have Raiders given up?CHARGERS, 33-16No. 19 Miami (plus 10) at No. 16 Green BayDolphins have better record, Packers have much better team.PACKERS, 34-20No. 21 Jacksonville (plus 3) at No. 23 IndianapolisCould there be a worse matchup this weekend? Well, see below.JAGUARS Alejandro Villanueva Jersey , 21-20No. 31 Buffalo (plus 7) at No. 26 New York JetsCould there be a worse matchup? Well, see Monday night.JETS, 8-5No. 30 New York Giants (plus 3 1-2) at No. 28 San Francisco, Monday nightThe worst matchup. And in prime time.UPSET SPECIAL: GIANTS, 19-13 With the second wave of free agency set to start on May 7, we take a look at some of the more talented names on the open market."With the passing of the compensatory draft pick deadline for 2019 set for May 7, the NFL is likely to see a second wave of free agency begin on Tuesday. And if the Pittsburgh Steelers have any plans to sign some of the names still available, there is a good chance they will need to move quickly this week or risk seeing the player sign elsewhere this year.For teams like the Steelers who expect to receive additional draft picks in 2020 to make up for the free agents they lost this offseason, the opportunity to sign players without them counting against the formula that determines compensatory draft selections can be an important date on the calendar. Seemingly in line for a third-round selection next year to compensate for the loss of Le’Veon Bell to the New York Jets, based on current projections from OverTheCap.com, Pittsburgh is one of nine teams expected to receive one of the highest compensatory draft picks available in 2020.A lack of salary cap space would seem to suggest that the Steelers will not be significant players during this second round of free agency, but there are still plenty of players looking for new homes who could be in high demand elsewhere.QuarterbackSam Bradford, Matt Cassel, Josh Johnson, Colin Kaepernick, Josh McCown, Brock Osweiler, Mark Sanchez, Geno Smith.Running BackJay Ajayi, LeGarrette Blount, Jeremy Hill, Chris Ivory, Marshawn Lynch, Alfred Morris, Bilal Powell, Stevan Ridley, Darren Sproles, Charcandrick West.Wide ReceiverDez Bryant John Stallworth Jersey , Michael Crabtree, Pierre Garcon, Dontrelle Inman, Jermaine Kearse, Brandon LaFell, Rishard Matthews, De’Anthony Thomas, Mike Wallace, Terrance Williams.Tight EndAntonio Gates, MarQueis Gray, Jermaine Gresham, Michael Hoomanawanui, Lance Kendricks, Lee Smith, Dion Sims, Maxx Williams.Offensive LineJeff Allen, Joe Barksdale, T.J. Clemmings, Chris Clark, Cameron Fleming, Jonathan Cooper, Garry Gilliam, Ryan Groy, Ulrick John, Andy Levitre, Jordan Mills, Marshall Newhouse, Jermey Parnell Jordan Berry Jersey , Donald Penn, Mike Remmers, Tyler Shatley, Josh Sitton, Quinton Spain, John Sullivan, Travis Swanson, Jared Veldheer, Josh Wells, Chance Warmack, Stefen Wisniewski.Edge RusherSam Acho, Connor Barwin, Kony Ealy, William Hayes, Michael Johnson, Dion Jordan, Matt Longacre, Josh Martin, Pernell McPhee, Derrick Morgan, Nick Perry, Shane Ray, Frostee Rucker, Derrick Shelby, Frank Zombo.Defensive LineEzekiel Ansah, Allen Bailey, Andre Branch, Tyeler Davison David DeCastro Jersey , Dominique Easley, Rodney Gunter, Ziggy Hood, Ricky Jean-Francois, Michael Johnson, Zach Kerr, Corey Liuget, Earl Mitchell, Malik McDowell, Stacy McGee, Domata Peko, Ahtyba Rubin, Danny Shelton, Ndamukong Suh, Muhammad Wilkerson, Al Woods.LinebackerJon Bostic, Josh Bynes, Jeremy Cash, Jamie Collins, Brock Coyle, Will Compton, Nate Palmer, Kevin Pierre-Louis, Kelvin Sheppard, Manti Te’o.CornerbackMorris Claiborne, Brent Grimes, Vontae Davis, Davon House Chukwuma Okorafor Jersey , Captain Munnerlyn, Coty Sensabaugh, Orlando Scandrick, Sam Shields, Kayvon Webster, Shareece Wright.SafetyMike Adams, Eric Berry, Tre Boston, Nat Berhe, Johnathan Cyprien, Kurt Coleman, Chris Conte, Marcus Gilchrist, Kendrick Lewis, Mike Mitchell, Reggie Nelson, Ron Parker, Glover Quin, Darian Stewart.Currently listed with $4,816,131 in available salary cap space, as per the NFLPA public salary cap report on Monday, the Steelers should be able to afford most of the names still on the open market, barring one or two exceptions. But with a nine-man draft class still to sign that is projected to cost around $3million this year, any significant signings would require the team to create some additional cap space to cover their draft selections.
