Mark Madden stories, Page 10

Broderick Jones is a mess. Most of the blame lies with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers traded up to take Jones with the 14th pick of last year’s NFL Draft. He was supposed to be their franchise left tackle. Jones started 11 games as a rookie, all at right tackle....

Russell Wilson should be the Steelers’ starting quarterback the minute he’s cleared. (That’s assuming he’s not already cleared and was shadow benched Sunday at Denver.) Justin Fields is terrible. Just like he was in Chicago. Sure, the Steelers are 2-0. Huzzah. But they have one touchdown in eight quarters. The...

Reports say that Justin Fields will start the next two games at quarterback, including Sunday’s visit to Denver. If the Steelers are 3-0 after that, as they well could be, then Fields will surely keep starting. If that’s what the Steelers choose, here’s how to maximize: • Call Fields’ number...

If you look at the stats, re-upping Andrew McCutchen for next season seems a no-brainer. McCutchen is second on the Pirates in on-base percentage (.338) and home runs (20), third in OPS (.771) and runs (64). He’s hiked his batting average to .241, respectable by today’s standard. At 37, McCutchen...

Terry Bradshaw won four Super Bowls and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Ben Roethlisberger won two Super Bowls and is a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. After that, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback history gets a little murky. The Steelers cut Johnny Unitas, who might be...

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense under new coordinator Arthur Smith is a work in progress. Sunday’s season opener at Atlanta didn’t yield much progress. The Steelers averaged 17.88 points per game last season. They scored 18 points at Atlanta. Six field goals. They failed to score a touchdown. Quarterback Justin Fields...

Those who do what I do root for the story. Not for a team or an athlete, but the story. Anybody in my profession who says otherwise is either a mark, or lying. Best-case scenario as the Pittsburgh Steelers prepare to open their season at Atlanta is: • Russell Wilson...

The best thing that could realistically happen for the Steelers is to go 8-9 or worse. To get out from under the phony non-achievement of Coach T never having a losing season. To then set the bar higher and take a hard look at the team as it really is,...

Let’s be blunt: It’s time to wonder whether the Steelers know what they’re doing. The Steelers drafted Broderick Jones to be their franchise left tackle, or so we thought. Traded up to pick him. But, over a year later, Jones still isn’t at left tackle. Coach Mike Tomlin said he...

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense is going to stink. The Steelers have the worst wide receivers in football. Pounding the ball on the ground, playing it safe and keeping it close till the fourth quarter is outdated. It’s 2024. You score more and faster. You think the Steelers play smart on offense....

We’re in the middle of fantasy football draft season. Most participants are just sadly pretending. If you invest $50 or $100 or whatever piddling sum, there’s no real risk. That’s OK, but don’t posture like you’re Howie Roseman. Don’t bore people with tales of brilliant roster management: “I got Aiyuk!...

The Pittsburgh Pirates not only have collapsed, but they also have lost games in grand fashion. On Wednesday, the Pirates led Chicago, 10-3, at PNC Park but got beat 14-10. That was an award winner, exploding sewer pipe division. It had so many great elements: • Hottie gymnast Livvy Dunne...

Justin Fields was never going to start when the Pittsburgh Steelers open their season Week 1 at Atlanta. There was no competition at quarterback. Russell Wilson was not only in pole position to start training camp, but the checkered flag was predetermined. But perhaps Fields should start. Not Week 1,...

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky said the media was “bamboozled a little bit” because “this was never a quarterback competition” between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. No duh, Einstein. Except you weren’t bamboozled. Nobody ever said it was a quarterback competition, least of all Mike Tomlin. Wilson had “pole position” and was...

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ disintegration since the trade deadline defies belief. Except I believe it. Even at their best, this year’s Pirates never truly looked a playoff team. Fringe, no better. But there was nothing marginal about how they dropped out of the wild-card race, imploding via 10 straight losses. Travesty...

It’s easy to suggest the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback situation will work out. But do you see any sign of that? The quarterback “battle” that got invented by the national media seems to be morphing into reality. Not talked into existence, but maybe born of Russell Wilson’s early-training camp calf injury...

It’s convenient to say exhibition play has no bearing on the NFL regular season. It’s even more convenient to expect a switcheroo in form from exhibition games to real ones by remembering that Kenny Pickett had a passer rating of 158.3 in the 2023 preseason, then fell apart when live...

False and misguided patriotism duly noted, the U.S. men’s basketball team winning gold at the Olympics (as pre-ordained by a string of double-digit point spreads) was farcical to the objective eye, best exemplified by LeBron James dunking over some swizzle stick from South Sudan, then going through his flexing and...

There’s a fine line between being patient and being played. In the case of the attempted acquisition of wideout Brandon Aiyuk from San Francisco, it feels like the Pittsburgh Steelers have fallen into the latter category. If it was going to happen, it would have happened by now. The Steelers...

With the Pittsburgh Pirates collapsing in thorough and spectacular fashion, the citizens need a scapegoat. The easy pick is manager Derek Shelton. Should the Pirates fire Shelton? Absolutely. They shouldn’t have hired Shelton in the first place. He will never again manage in MLB once his tenure with the Pirates...

The United States won Olympic gold in men’s and women’s basketball. Ho-hum. The men have won every gold since 2008, the women since 1996. U.S. basketball is like the Soviet hockey dynasty that won seven Olympic golds from 1956-88: It’s only interesting when they get beat. When the juggernaut loses,...

JuJu Smith-Schuster very quickly went from litty to … well, not very good. It’s not a cautionary tale. Just a reminder of how quickly and decisively life in the NFL can turn. At 27, Smith-Schuster is no longer the Pizza Hut guy, or the stolen bike guy, or the high...

Sidney Crosby has one year to go on his Pittsburgh Penguins contract. He hasn’t yet signed an extension. He was able to do so as of July 1. When his 37th birthday came and went Wednesday (Aug. 7, you know, 8/7) and the numerically obsessed Crosby still hadn’t put pen...

After months of speculation, San Francisco has put want-away wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk on the market. The Steelers are among the teams kicking the tires. If the Steelers don’t get Aiyuk, it’s a failure by management. If Cleveland gets Aiyuk, the Steelers will finish last in the AFC North. (The...

Once his calf is totally healed, and he’s taking regular snaps, and the 100% fabricated battle for the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback job is over, Russell Wilson will be the team’s saving grace. If there’s anything to be made of the team’s 2024 season, Wilson will do it. Not the $160...