By MIKE CRANSTON
AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C.(AP) -- Pittsburgh's first team defense forced a
three-and-out, Stefan Logan returned a punt for a touchdown, and
the Steelers' second unit made Carolina punt before Ben
Roethlisberger hit the field.

He threw one swing pass for seven yards on third-and-9 and
called it a night.

With the Super Bowl champions opening the real season in a week,
coach Mike Tomlin took few chances in the final exhibition
Thursday, a 21-10 victory over the Panthers.

The first-team offense and defense took three snaps apiece, with
the defense finishing the preseason without allowing a touchdown
despite NFL defensive player of the year James Harrison not even
suiting up.

"This brought to a close a productive preseason for us," Tomlin
said.

Carolina, meanwhile, did little to ease concerns in what was a
shaky, injury-plagued and winless preseason.

Jake Delhomme was 2 of 4 for 19 yards before exiting after two
series, seven plays and one first down as the first-team offense
finished with one touchdown in four exhibitions.

The first-team defense is the bigger worry, banged-up and unable
to stop even Pittsburgh's reserves.

With Roethlisberger already wearing a baseball cap, rookie
running back Isaac Redman may have cemented his spot on the
53-man roster by barreling over Chris Harris, Julius Peppers and
others on a 10-yard touchdown run.

"I had him wrapped up and got knocked off the tackle by one of
my teammates," Harris said. "That type of thing happens,
friendly fire, but nothing to get worried about."

But coupled with Logan's 80-yard punt return, Pittsburgh (3-1)
led 14-0 before the barrage of third-stringers entered early in
the second quarter.

Sloppiness ensued.

Backup quarterback Josh McCown lost a fumble for Carolina (0-4).
So did rookie running back Mike Goodson. It was recovered by
Pittsburgh linebacker Donovan Woods, who injured his hamstring
on the return.

Ryan Mundy returned Matt Moore's interception 31 yards to give
Pittsburgh a 21-7 third-quarter lead.

Goodson rushed 15 times for 79 yards and Jamall Lee had a 1-yard
TD run for Carolina.

The concern for Pittsburgh was the number of reserves banged up
in a game where a combined 44 players won't be around after
Saturday. Defensive tackle Scott Paxson (concussion) and
receivers Dallas Baker (hip) and Tyler Grisham (shoulder) all
left.

The Steelers decided not to even put Harrison, not listed as
being injured, on the field. Receiver Santonio Holmes (back) and
running back Willie Parker (hamstring) didn't dress and
linebacker Lawrence Timmons (ankle) didn't travel.

But with the defense playing well and Roethlisberger coming off
a strong game a week earlier against Buffalo, the champs are
confident.

"Personally I feel great," safety Troy Polamalu said. "The
obvious things are especially on special teams. We're going to
make a big change there from last season and I think that will
help our offense and defense out."

The performance provided little optimism in a tumultuous week
for Carolina. Owner Jerry Richardson's two sons abruptly
resigned from the organization on Tuesday. Richardson, still
recovering from a February heart transplant, hired TCU athletic
director Danny Morrison a day later to replace Mark Richardson
as team president.

A cheerful Morrison attended the game, but with Jerry Richardson
watching from his luxury box, the Panthers looked little like
last year's NFC South-winning club.

"The one thing that you can take from this is that there's
definitely some room for improvement," said receiver Muhsin
Muhammad, who dropped a pass. "We need to put points on the
board, obviously, and eliminate some turnovers."

The best news for Carolina may have come from starting
linebacker Jon Beason after the game. Out with a sprained knee,
the Panthers' top tackler last season said he plans to start
running over the weekend and is confident he'll play in the
opener Sept. 13 against Philadelphia.

"I really don't have any doubt in my mind," Beason said.

They'll need him, with the unit struggling to find its way under
new coordinator Ron Meeks. It didn't help that rookie defensive
tackle Corvey Irvin left with a knee injury.

Redman rushed for 79 yards for the Steelers, although Tomlin
wasn't ready to award him or Logan a roster spot.

He'll announce cuts Friday, then the Steelers prepare for the
real stuff: celebrating the Super Bowl and playing with their
stars next week against Tennessee.

NOTES: With Carolina DT Maake Kemoeatu (Achilles tendon) out for
the season, there was no matchup with his brother Chris,
Pittsburgh's left guard. ... Steelers LB Keyaron Fox had a sack
on the first series. ... McCown likely earned the backup QB job
after going 11 of 15 for 82 yards. ... Carolina last went
winless in the 2000 preseason before going 7-9.