Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton accurately summarized his team's performance following a 52-21 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night.

“We got whooped, man," Newton told the Panthers' official website.

Carolina entered Thursday's contest at 6-2 and on a three-game winning streak but submitted its worst performance of the season. Newton threw two touchdowns and an interception, but he was outdueled by counterpart Ben Roethlisberger, who threw five touchdowns and no interceptions for the Steelers.

"It was a learning experience for a lot of guys,” Newton continued. "If we expect to be as good as we expect to be, we have to find ways to win games like this in hostile environments."

Despite the drubbing, the Panthers are still in the thick of the NFC playoff race, and Newton made it clear he's moving on while looking ahead to next week.

"I've been playing in this league long enough to understand that you need to fight through games like this," he said. "You are going to have these types of games in the league, but it’s going to be about how we rebound.

"We’ll bounce back from this."

The Panthers will next head to Detroit for a road game against the Lions in Week 11.