Mark Madden Columns category, Page 5
Mark Madden: A decades-old tradition, Steelers would rather be right than win
In Week 13 at Cincinnati, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Bengals, 44-38. Quarterback Russell Wilson scored six more points than Joe Burrow. Wilson threw for 105 more yards than Burrow. Wilson threw for three touchdowns, same as Burrow. That’s rarefied air, a callback to Wilson’s glory days with Seattle. Wilson...
Mark Madden: Tee Higgins joining the Steelers is pure fantasy talk
It’s the time of year for Pittsburgh Steelers fantasies. “Here come the jesters, 1-2-3…” Draft this guy. Trade for that guy. But the No. 1 fantasy is to sign the big-name free agent. (Which the Steelers don’t do. That’s why it’s a fantasy.) Every Steelers fan’s current dream is receiver...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Penguins’ trade gives reason for cautious optimism
The Pittsburgh Penguins are rebuilding, whether they use that word or not. But dominos are falling, which raise the possibility that rebuilding can be accelerated, perhaps within the time frame of Sidney Crosby’s remaining tenure. (However long that is. He’s the best 37-year-old ever.) The Penguins keep stockpiling draft choices,...
Mark Madden: Sidney Crosby’s rallying moments just mean more in Pittsburgh
Wednesday night at Utah was the essence of Sidney Crosby as a Penguin. He cuts through the slot like a magician to bury a trademark backhand in overtime. It’s the Penguins’ first visit to Salt Lake City. Lots of Penguins jerseys in the stands. Big pop for the finish. It...
Mark Madden: Change is integral for Penguins’ rebuild, and Sidney Crosby can help it move forward
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ three-man core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang has played together for 19 seasons, a record for North American sports. It’s a nice story. The unbreakable bond of eternal brotherhood. It’s a success story. Three Stanley Cups, another Stanley Cup Final and over a decade of...
Mark Madden: Steelers wallow in mismanagement, illusion of success
The Pittsburgh Steelers maintain credibility based on two brands: their logo and the Rooney family. Simply being the Steelers is enough. But now the Steelers are not serious people. The Steelers wallow in mismanagement that isn’t acknowledged, let alone corrected. They’re clueless. The current disappointment isn’t just a blip. It’s...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers’ draft focus should be on scoring, quarterback, not defense
The NFL Draft takes place April 24-26. Since we’re going to debate ad nauseam whom the Pittsburgh Steelers should pick from now till then, here’s two early suggestions. • Don’t take a defensive player in the first round. Sure, the Steelers badly need help on the defensive line. But the...
Mark Madden: Justin Fields has better options than staying with Steelers
This space recently floated the largely accepted notion that starting Justin Fields at quarterback next season makes sense for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Fields is 25 and has pedigree, having been selected 11th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. He’s mobile and athletic: Lamar Jackson Lite. If Fields blossoms, perhaps he’s...
Mark Madden: Ichiro’s performance speaks for itself, even if he wasn’t a unanimous Hall of Fame selection
Ichiro Suzuki just got elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ichiro was one vote shy of unanimous. The same happened with Derek Jeter in 2020: He got every vote but one. Like then, there’s a battle cry to reveal who didn’t vote for Ichiro. Baseball’s gatekeepers are marching through...
Mark Madden: PiratesFest drives home notion the team has no ambition beyond profit
The annual PiratesFest propaganda rally lived up to the spirit of the franchise this past weekend at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. It was wall-to-wall horse manure. That’s what I’m told, anyway. I didn’t attend. I refuse to be an enabler. Some highlights: • A Q&A with CEO Travis...
Mark Madden’s hot take: Steelers’ lack of action speaks volumes
The Pittsburgh Steelers won’t swap Mike Tomlin to Chicago or ditch him via any method. The Steelers won’t make any big personnel moves, except perhaps trading wideout George Pickens because his shenanigans go too far even in the laissez-faire culture Tomlin enables. The Steelers won’t make changes to the coaching...
Mark Madden: How the right decision on goalies led to years of Penguins’ misfortune
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ goaltending crisis started when the general manager made the right decision. No, not when current GM Kyle Dubas gave Tristan Jarry a five-year, $26.875 million contract in 2023. That was the wrong decision, as Dubas acknowledged when the Penguins waived Jarry on Wednesday. Credit Dubas for admitting...
Mark Madden: Signing Justin Fields among many obvious decisions for Steelers; others aren’t so easy
Lots of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offseason decisions will be easy and obvious. Justin Fields will be the starting quarterback in 2025. Fields can be had for $15 million per season or less, maybe on a two-year deal. He’s 25, has lots of athletic ability, very low football IQ but is...
Mark Madden: With no reason for optimism, Steelers need to start all over — beginning with Mike Tomlin
The Steelers lost their sixth straight playoff game. For the fifth consecutive time, it was a blowout. The Steelers should blow it up and start over. The coach has been exposed for the fraud he’s always been. This version of the team is aging, full of holes and clearly a...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: James Franklin is a Penn State hero, so why all the hate?
To Penn State fans, James Franklin should be a hero. Penn State made the Big Ten championship game and the College Football Playoff semifinals. Any Penn State supporter would have been salivating at that prospect before the season. The Nittany Lions were very competitive in both those games, losing to...
Mark Madden: The recalibration of Mike Tomlin’s legend continues
Denial. It’s tough. With the Pittsburgh Steelers set to finish their traditional late-season skid with a fifth straight loss by losing their wild-card playoff game at Baltimore on Saturday, here’s a bit of hope: Betting the Steelers on the money line is great value. The Steelers are plus-400. A worthwhile...
Mark Madden: Minkah Fitzpatrick not giving Steelers enough bang for the buck
The Pittsburgh Steelers are in their current mess for a number of reasons. But two stand out. Selecting Kenny Pickett in the first round of the 2022 draft was badly damaging. Pickett very quickly revealed himself to not be of starting caliber. The Steelers have patchworked at quarterback since Pickett...
Mark Madden: Time for the Steelers to send a message and bench George Pickens
Saying what the Steelers should do often contradicts what the Steelers do. They are perfectly content to lose using their method. But the Steelers should make wideout George Pickens inactive for their playoff game Saturday night at Baltimore. It’s time to quit ladling out horse manure about the team’s alleged...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Forget being fair, NHL’s outdoor games need star power, top teams
The NHL’s annual Winter Classic drew 16% less TV viewers than last year’s. The audience of 920,000 was the event’s lowest ever. That’s hardly shocking. The Winter Classic featured two subpar teams, St. Louis and host Chicago. The Blackhawks currently sit last in the NHL’s Central Division and their alleged...
Mark Madden: Want to live up to the Steelers’ standard? Beat the Bungles
The Pittsburgh Steelers have folded. Beat by a cumulative 90-40 over the last three weeks, left in the dust by teams that are clearly better, exposed as non-contenders when it comes to doing anything significant, knocked off the top of the AFC North and scrambling to avoid a euthanasia scenario in...
Mark Madden: Should Steelers rest starters vs. Bengals if Ravens win and more sports notes
Time to ring in the New Year with refreshing sports notes! What does “auld lang syne” mean, anyway? • By the time the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season ends, the only thing Mike Tomlin will win is “Hard Knocks.” • The Steelers will either lose the next two games or win the next...
Mark Madden: Drastic changes needed if Steelers’ collapse continues, but they won’t make them
What if the Steelers lose out? What if they go from 10-3 to 10-7, then drop their first playoff game? It’s not an unlikely scenario. The Steelers play worse every week. Against Kansas City, they played like it was the middle of next month. The Steelers are clearly a level...
Mark Madden: No surprise that flawed roster, poor coaching led to Steelers’ collapse
This column will be all over the place. Because the Pittsburgh Steelers are all over the place. From 10-3 to 10-6. From AFC North front-runner in line for a playoff home game to hitting the road for the wild-card round. From “a legit Super Bowl contender that can beat anybody”...
Mark Madden: Sidney Crosby might be on verge of his greatest individual achievement as a Penguin
Let’s celebrate the season with refreshing Pittsburgh Penguins notes! They’re a lot more refreshing when you win nine of 13 and splatter Philadelphia as a Christmas gift. Have you ever seen the Flyers win the Cup? • From goal line to goal line and on the stat sheet, I’m confident...
Mark Madden: With the Steelers showing familiar faults, is another collapse underway?
Whatever is happening with the Pittsburgh Steelers isn’t good. Their 10-3 mark of a few weeks back seems like fool’s gold. They’ve been dominated in consecutive weeks by upper-echelon teams Philadelphia and Baltimore, making it clear that the Steelers are a class below. The opposition’s physical superiority made the gap...
