PITTSBURGH -- A weekly look at what the Steelers must fix:

Penalties continue to plague the Steelers, and they have to be more disciplined if they want to challenge for supremacy in the AFC -- or even just the AFC North, where the Bengals are off to a 3-0 start and playing as well as any team in the NFL.

The Steelers have committed 31 penalties; only the San Francisco 49ers have been flagged more through the first three weeks of the season.

The Steelers were penalized 11 times for 91 yards in their 37-19 win over the Carolina Panthers.

They established a trend of dumb penalties early when they were flagged for having too many men in the huddle on the second play of the game.

The head-scratching penalties didn’t end there.

David DeCastro nearly cost the Steelers at the end of the first half when the right guard shoved Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly after the whistle had blown the play dead, earning an unnecessary roughness penalty. The Steelers got most of those yards back on the following play, setting up a Shaun Suisham field goal at the end of the first half.

The good news for the Steelers is the penalties they accumulated Sunday night weren’t the result of getting overpowered or not having the speed to play with Carolina.

The Steelers’ offensive line was flagged just once for holding, and the pass interference penalties called against the Steelers were on tight ends Matt Spaeth and Michael Palmer.

The Steelers simply need to play smarter to clean up the penalties, something that coach Mike Tomlin is sure to emphasize this week as they prepare for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.