Mark Madden stories, Page 2
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Trading George Pickens was still the right move for Steelers
As the Pittsburgh Steelers stay embedded in the mushy middle with no escape in sight, the new blame-game sidebar is the trade of wideout George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys for two draft picks this past offseason, that the Steelers shouldn’t have done it. Pickens is having a great year...
Mark Madden: What should the Penguins do with Tristan Jarry?
Tristan Jarry has provided grounds for buyer’s remorse since signing a five-year, $26.875 million contract in July 2023. The Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender played poorly and cleared waivers last season, doing two stints with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton farm club. The Penguins got goalie Arturs Silovs this past offseason. Their system is chock-full of...
Mark Madden: Let Aaron Rodgers call plays, feed DK Metcalf and more things the Steelers can try
The Pittsburgh Steelers are 6-5 but seem in disarray. Linebacker Patrick Queen questioned the defensive scheme after the 31-28 loss at Chicago this past Sunday. Ex-Steeler Trai Essex agreed, saying, “It’s not a talent issue. It’s definitely schematics.” Former Steeler James Harrison, like Essex a two-time Super Bowl champ, turned...
Mark Madden: Steelers keep sinking but won’t change course
Dating to last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have lost 10 of their last 16. Despite lots of personnel changes, many significant, the Steelers have the same feel: stale, outdated and in possession of a one-way ticket to Palookaville. The players who get paid the most aren’t doing the most or...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: No harm done, but Cam Skattebo’s wrestling appearance was bad optics
Cam Skattebo got physical at ringside on WWE TV, and it caused a stir. His New York Giants stink, at 2-9. The rookie running back is out with a broken leg, ankle dislocation and ligament damage. When Skattebo got hurt, part of his leg was facing the wrong way. But...
Mark Madden: The chase replaces the catch for the Pirates
ESPN’s Jeff Passan is one of MLB’s most respected journalists. But most of what he reported about the Pittsburgh Pirates this week is totally full of excrement. Passan knows better. But there’s so little content about a franchise as moribund as the Pirates, so he’ll take what’s leaked. Even if it’s...
Mark Madden: Injured Aaron Rodgers will likely start vs. Bears, but should he?
The Steelers never look past the next game. Sunday’s visit to Chicago won’t be an exception. Which is why Aaron Rodgers will play quarterback even though he probably shouldn’t. Rodgers has a broken bone in his left (non-throwing) wrist. Shotgun snaps might be difficult to handle. Snaps under center will...
Mark Madden: Steelers should stick with Mason Rudolph despite clamoring for Will Howard
Let’s get ahead of the clamor: Don’t start Will Howard. Mason Rudolph did fine deputizing for an injured Aaron Rodgers in the second half of the Steelers’ home win over Cincinnati. Rudolph posted similar stats, maybe a bit better, and directed a game-clinching, fourth-quarter drive. Rudolph did better under pressure...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Penguins are misusing Ben Kindel, Ville Koivunen
Ben Kindel, 18, is a center. That’s where he should play. Ville Koivunen, 22, is a top-six winger. That’s how he should be deployed. The Pittsburgh Penguins got caught up in their hot start, and who can blame them? (That’s disintegrated, by the way. They’ve lost five of their last...
Mark Madden: Paul Skenes excites Pirates’ true believers with championship talk, but it changes nothing
As expected, Paul Skenes got the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday. Was a unanimous selection to boot. What Skenes said after was embraced like the Sermon on the Mount by those dumb enough to be among the Pirates’ true believers. Skenes was asked about a report that he...
Mark Madden: Every point counts, so Penguins must solve shootout problems
Most (including me) had the Pittsburgh Penguins pegged as a non-playoff team angling for a top-five draft pick. But the Penguins have the fifth-most points in the Eastern Conference and two straight sellouts at PPG Paints Arena. That changes priorities. If the Penguins’ contention continues into 2026, the hockey media...
Mark Madden: Despite offseason additions, Steelers headed for the same destination
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a bad team. The host Los Angeles Chargers were badly banged up for Sunday’s prime-time clash, but the Steelers were flat, Aaron Rodgers performed at a New York Jets level of bumbling, big-money bozos T.J. Watt and DK Metcalf were invisible and the Steelers committed hara-kiri by...
Mark Madden: Sidney Crosby is sizzling, Ben Kindel brings power-play brilliance and more Penguins thoughts
The Pittsburgh Penguins are 9-4-2, top of the NHL. Sidney Crosby is the league’s leading goal-scorer at 11. The (unexpected) situation fairly begs for refreshing Penguins notes! • Crosby is also just two points off the NHL’s points lead. Even for him, he’s sizzling. If Crosby drags this rag-tag Penguins...
Mark Madden: Penguins should create hype by starting rookie Sergei Murashov vs. Capitals
When it comes to his decision-making process, Dan Muse is all hockey. But when Washington visits PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins coach needs to have a sense of the occasion and start Sergei Murashov. The Penguins’ goaltender of the future has arrived earlier than expected because...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ actions at trade deadline show they’re hardly ‘all in’
The Pittsburgh Steelers work in mysterious ways. This season, allegedly “all in” with a roster full of senior citizens, they did nothing at Tuesday’s trade deadline. AFC competitors like Baltimore, Indianapolis, Jacksonville and the Los Angeles Chargers all got better. The Steelers didn’t. If you want to lump in the...
Mark Madden: Some say MLB is broken, but World Series numbers prove otherwise
In the wake of Los Angeles’ second straight World Series win, we’re being told the Dodgers “bought” victory. Well, of course they did. Their payroll was $350 million this season, $266 million in 2024. But Toronto tried its best to do the same. The Blue Jays paid their players $255...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Why would Aaron Rodgers play another season with the Steelers?
When it got reported that the Steelers were already leaning toward bringing back Aaron Rodgers next season, I initially felt it was far too early to decide that. But then I considered that, except for the foolproof act of inheriting Ben Roethlisberger, coach Mike Tomlin has done nothing but mangle...
Mark Madden: How did the Penguins get off to such a torrid start?
Gavin who? In just one month and 12 games, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ priorities have dramatically shifted. The goal is to build on their torrid 8-2-2 start and make the postseason for the first time since 2022, perhaps even win a playoff series for the first time since 2018. If you’re...
Mark Madden: The teenagers have helped rejuvenate the Penguins, so keep them around
Ben Kindel has played nine games, Harrison Brunicke seven. Each of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ teenage rookies can play nine NHL games and be returned to his Major Junior team without burning a year of his contract. It’s decision-making time, especially with Kindel right at that deadline. Brunicke, 19, has struggled...
Mark Madden: Aging stars, lack of splash plays expose Steelers’ ‘historic’ defense
The Steelers’ defensive weaknesses are easily defined. That “historic” defense can’t do anything. The NFL’s highest-paid defense can’t tackle or cover. Can’t stop the run or pass. All of its big names are past their primes and fading. The Steelers don’t know how to fix that defense. Don’t know what...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: If the Penguins want development, a kid line is the answer
Winning when it’s not expected and when you’re supposed to be rebuilding comes with an unusual set of challenges. You’ve got to keep trying to win, but development can’t be put on the backburner. That’s the circumstance the Penguins find themselves in after a whirlwind 6-2 start that sees them...
Mark Madden: Eddie Johnston laid foundation for Penguins’ success
Eddie Johnston gets inducted into the Pittsburgh Penguins’ in-house Hall of Fame on Saturday night. Johnston is renowned for much during his tenure with the team, but his masterpiece was general managing the Penguins to finishing last overall in 1984, then drafting center Mario Lemieux. The tank job was fabulous,...
Mark Madden: Will the Penguins repeat a costly mistake with Ben Kindel?
It’s early in the development of rookie forwards Ben Kindel and Ville Koivunen. Kindel is with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Koivunen with their Wilkes-Barre/Scranton farm club. But here’s a cautionary tale: The Penguins picked Russian winger Aleksey Morozov in the first round of the 1995 NHL Draft (24th overall). Morozov played...
Mark Madden: No one is afraid of Steelers’ predictable defense
Let’s take a look at the reality of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense. Not the myth. The myth holds that the defense is elite. It’s not. It’s predictable. As Cincinnati wideout Ja’Marr Chase said after he, the Bengals offense and 40-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco dropped 33 points on the Steelers on...
Mark Madden: Tip your cap to Dodgers for not babying pitchers
Something refreshing happened within the context of MLB’s current zeitgeist Monday night: A starting pitcher threw eight innings. No, it’s not a complete game. And the length of Blake Snell’s stay on the mound for Los Angeles was made more palatable because he only threw 103 pitches, less than usual...
