Steve Wilks Sends Message to Panthers Fans

Over the last few seasons, Bank of America Stadium hasn't been much of a home field advantage for the Carolina Panthers. In fact, it's almost had a neutral site feel for many games with the visiting team's fans showing up in bunches. Whether it be the purple of Vikings fans, the wave of Eagles green, or a sea of red from 49ers fans, some games may have the look of a road game for Carolina.

Part of that can be attributed to the team's lack of success over the last two seasons and rightfully so. When your team isn't making any positive strides, it's hard for some folks to be willing to pay the price of admission when they can just watch the game at home. That doesn't just happen in Carolina, it happens everywhere, in every sport.

The other component is how fast the city of Charlotte is growing. With that, you have an abundance of transplants from other big cities such as Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, Washington D.C., and so on. You'll even notice this at Charlotte Hornets games too.

That said, it's not always like this. Bank of America Stadium has been a packed to the gill full of Panthers fans on many occasions. For reference, the 2015 NFC Championship game against the Arizona Cardinals. Interim head coach Steve Wilks understands that there's been some rough times here lately but he also knows that when the Panthers' fan base shows out, it's something special.

During his press conference on Monday afternoon, he wanted to send a message to the fans in hopes of them creating a playoff-like atmosphere for what is the first of four very big games for the Panthers.

"Definitely want to talk to our fans, who I feel like are the best fans in NFL football. Definitely want those guys to come out and support this football team in high fashion and to keep those Steeler fans out of Bank of America Stadium. I've been around here. I've been in that stadium when you couldn't even hear yourself talk because it was so loud. So, I am asking for our fans to show up en masse this week so we can have that same atmosphere when we play the Pittsburgh Steelers."

The Panthers and Steelers are set to kickoff at 1 p.m. EST.

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