Mark Madden stories, Page 28
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers are bound for a losing season
Here’s my Pittsburgh Steelers prediction. You won’t like it. The Steelers will go 7-10. Coach Mike Tomlin’s first losing season. (What a relief that will be. The streak of years without a playoff win will be extended to six, however.) I’m not totally convinced of my prediction. This Steelers team...
Mark Madden: Futures bets that could pay off during NFL season
The NFL season is here. The most important thing is to get your bets down. What would football be without gambling? The most flawed wager I’ve witnessed so far this season is Carolina back Christian McCaffrey drafted second overall in a $6,500-per-team fantasy league. McCaffrey has played just 10 games...
Mark Madden: Mason Rudolph makes more sense as Steelers No. 2 QB, but it doesn’t matter
A tale of two things that don’t really matter but we nonetheless discuss: It doesn’t matter that Kenny Pickett is No. 2 on the Steelers’ depth chart at quarterback and that Mason Rudolph is No. 3. It wouldn’t matter if it was vice-versa, either. If Mitch Trubisky gets knocked out...
Mark Madden: Many experts have unrealistic expectations for Steelers
It’s the time of year when media members make their Pittsburgh Steelers predictions. The vast majority lie, at least locally. “About nine or 10 wins” will be a familiar refrain. But few will mean it. Sports Illustrated caused commotion among the yinzers by predicting 6-11. One Pittsburgh media type wondered...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Here’s how the Steelers can reach the playoffs
There are plenty of reasons the Pittsburgh Steelers won’t make the playoffs. But if they do, here’s why: • Mitch Trubisky excels. He might. Trubisky had an excellent preseason. His arm looks terrific. He’s got the pedigree of a No. 2 pick overall. He was better in Chicago than you...
Mark Madden: Dave Parker is being honored by Pirates, but he deserves more
Saturday is that rarest of days in Pittsburgh: A time when baseball can legitimately be celebrated, as opposed to convincing ourselves it’s OK to rarely make contact with the ball as long as it travels over 110 mph when you do, even if it’s caught. Not only is it OK,...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ Mike Tomlin must avoid another Melvin Ingram fiasco
Memo to Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin: Don’t make the same mistake twice. As this space recently noted, Tomlin erred when he started Alex Highsmith at edge rusher last season, not Melvin Ingram. Ingram got the boo-boo face, asked out, got traded to Kansas City and was missed when T.J. Watt...
Mark Madden: If there was a Steelers quarterback competition, Mitch Trubisky won it
There was never a legit competition for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback job. If you consider how the quarterbacks got deployed at training camp and in the exhibition games, that’s obvious. It was all lip service and media stooging. But if there had been a competition, Mitch Trubisky would have...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Fantasy football skews rooting priorities
It’s the time of year when everybody unwittingly ruins their enjoyment of the NFL by drafting a team in that most counterproductive of activities, fantasy football. You love it. You shouldn’t. It’s popular. So is drug abuse. Say your fantasy team includes Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow. Who do you root...
Mark Madden: Steelers should delay culture shock for Kenny Pickett until after Patriots matchup
These refreshing sports notes are locked in a battle to see who starts! (Not really. But that’s a deception you like to buy into.) • Kenny Pickett has looked great in preseason games. But he has faced defenses that were 100% vanilla. Plenty of media experts want Pickett to start...
Mark Madden: Offensive line is a monument to Steelers mismanagement
The Pittsburgh Steelers have a host of good players, not least their three defensive standouts: Minkah Fitzpatrick, Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt. They also have a lot of promising young talent on offense, including Najee Harris, George Pickens and Kenny Pickett. But the Steelers have a lousy team. It’s poorly...
Mark Madden: Kenny Pickett may be playing well enough to be the Steelers’ starter, but is it too risky?
The Steelers played in (and lost) Super Bowl XXX. The following season, 1996, saw them replace their quarterback. Neil O’Donnell left via free agency. There was competition at training camp for the QB job. Jim Miller won it, beating out vet Mike Tomczak and second-year pro Kordell Stewart, a fan...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers have to manage Kenny Pickett’s future sensibly
Mitch Trubisky is the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback. That was a lock the minute he signed. But the Steelers clearly are enamored with rookie Kenny Pickett, even beyond having drafted him with the 20th pick overall. What’s not to like? Pickett has done well in his brief pro tenure. He’s...
Mark Madden: No lies detected with Dennis Eckersley’s comments about Pirates
Dennis Eckersley of the Boston Red Sox TV crew was not complimentary of the Pittsburgh Pirates during Tuesday’s broadcast: “You talk about a no-name lineup. There’s no team like this,” Eckersley said. “This is a hodgepodge of nothingness. It’s ridiculous. It really is.” Eckersley sounded dumbfounded. The Pirates hadn’t played...
Mark Madden: Devin Bush’s disappointing play, attitude have impact on entire Steelers defense
Inside linebacker Devin Bush is entering the final season of his contract. But Bush doesn’t seem worried about his Pittsburgh Steelers tenure potentially reaching its end. “I’m still going to be in the NFL, so we’ll see,” Bush said. Gee, Devin … you sure about that? Bush had a great...
Mark Madden: Ease up with the overreaction to Kenny Pickett’s Steelers preseason debut
The horse manure got deep after Kenny Pickett’s preseason debut Saturday. “We will forever remember Pickett’s first exhibition game.” Something like that. We won’t. I can’t remember Ben Roethlisberger’s first exhibition game, and he will make the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Heck, I can’t remember most of his playoff...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Bill Russell’s No. 6 isn’t really retired
On Thursday, the NBA retired Bill Russell’s No. 6 league-wide. He was the first NBA player to be so honored. He was an 11-time champion, a civil rights pioneer and the league’s first Black head coach. Russell passed away July 31. But there was a disclaimer: Players already wearing No....
Mark Madden: Trading for Roquan Smith would improve the Steelers defense, but consider the end game
Chicago linebacker Roquan Smith wants to be traded. The Steelers might be interested, at least in the mind’s eye of our fertile imaginations. Smith is good. Smith, 25, was the eighth pick overall in 2018. He has been second-team All-Pro in each of the last two seasons. Devin Bush isn’t...
Mark Madden: Good for the Brooklyn Nets for standing up to Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant picked Kyrie Irving over Steph Curry. He went to Brooklyn and finagled with the roster. It turned into an excrement show. Durant has won one playoff series during his two seasons in Brooklyn. He wants to be traded, but it appears no team wants to give up what’s...
Mark Madden: Pirates whiff on inaugural Hall of Fame class
The Pirates’ intent is always in question. Their competency is doubtful, too. But you’d think they could at least get the inaugural class of their in-house Hall of Fame right. They didn’t. Fifteen Pirates and four Pittsburgh-based Negro League stars will be honored in a ceremony Sept. 3 at PNC...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: For Steelers players, ‘hold-ins’ work every time
Steelers training camp is the home of the “hold-in.” If it wasn’t born there, it was perfected there. It’s part of the scenery, like lawn chairs. T.J. Watt’s was the noisiest. Diontae Johnson’s was the latest. Minkah Fitzpatrick limited his to OTAs and minicamp. Cam Heyward did it. Probably. It...
Mark Madden: Starting with Mitch Trubisky, little to like in Steelers camp so far
Mitch Trubisky mostly has struggled at Pittsburgh Steelers training camp. He had a streak of 17 straight incompletions during seven shots. On Thursday, Trubisky punctuated going 0 for 4 during one team period by swinging his helmet in frustration. Trubisky is with a new team and learning a new offense....
Mark Madden: Training camp ‘hold-in’ accomplishes nothing for Steelers’ Diontae Johnson
Diontae Johnson lost his hold-in. He won’t acknowledge that. But he has. The Steelers won’t give Johnson what he wants: A contract extension with an average annual value of $20 million or more. Negotiation won’t change that. The Steelers don’t often give receivers a second contract. Hines Ward and Antonio...
Mark Madden: At Steelers camp, there are issues more interesting than daily dissection of QB battle
The large mob of Pittsburgh Steelers fans attending training camp at Latrobe is exemplary of our predilection for the meaningless. So enjoy refreshing sports notes, the most disposable of words! • Mason Rudolph is going to earn the Steelers’ starting quarterback job. But he won’t get it. So much for...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers didn’t draft Kenny Pickett to be quick fix
Those who feel Kenny Pickett should have got a presidential-style motorcade into Latrobe, then gifted the Pittsburgh Steelers’ No. 1 quarterback job are either dumb or don’t pay attention, perhaps both. Patrick Mahomes was drafted 10th overall in 2017. He started once as a rookie. Jordan Love was drafted 26th...
