Mark Madden Columns category, Page 27
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Is Ji-Man Choi supposed to get Pirates fans excited?
The Pirates no sooner got done losing 100 games than their attendant stooge media started to hype impending improvement for 2023. The initial trigger: Acquiring first baseman/DH Ji-Man Choi from Tampa Bay. One blogger said that Choi could mean three additional wins for the Pirates. So, they would lose 97...
Mark Madden: More than anything, Steelers need to see improvement from Kenny Pickett
The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off a bye week. New Orleans is coming off a short week. The Steelers are 2-6. The Saints are approximately just as rotten at 3-6. The host Steelers are nonetheless 1½-point underdogs. There isn’t a lot of faith in the Steelers. But if the Steelers...
Mark Madden: NFL’s highest-paid defense isn’t pulling its weight but still might salvage Steelers’ reputation
In the NFL’s defensive rankings, the Pittsburgh Steelers stand fourth from the bottom in yards and 10th from the bottom in points. Apparently, $108 million doesn’t buy what it used to. It’s the highest-paid defense in football but nowhere near the best. The Steelers rank 21st in time of possession....
Mark Madden: Playing better is only fix for the Penguins’ losing streak
Here’s betting the Pittsburgh Penguins navigate a way out of their seven-game losing streak and reach the NHL playoffs for a 17th straight season. Here’s admitting I don’t see another path besides just playing better. Who the Penguins are and what they do is all but set in stone. They...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: So many undeniable reasons for the Steelers’ 2-6 record
If, while ruminating during the bye week, you wonder why the Pittsburgh Steelers are 2-6, you shouldn’t. There’s a lengthy list of undeniable reasons: • They spent $108 million on a defense that stinks. • They gave T.J. Watt $80 million guaranteed, then trusted him to stay healthy. • They...
Mark Madden: Change of style could solve Penguins’ problems, but ego stands in the way
If the Pittsburgh Penguins don’t have a good, hard think about doing what’s needed instead of what they prefer, they could be buried by Thanksgiving. No playoffs for the first time since 2006. The Penguins are too old, not fast enough and not good enough to play a high-octane blitzkrieg...
Mark Madden: Can Mike Tomlin look past meaningless games now to prioritize Steelers’ future?
Receiver Chase Claypool was an underachieving ham-and-egger with a borderline attitude problem. No sentiment should be wasted on Claypool’s departure. Nor should anyone wonder about what might have been. Trading Claypool to Chicago subtracts a weapon from rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett. The receiving corps is an injury away from absolute...
Mark Madden: Now do you believe the Steelers stink?
Do you believe the Pittsburgh Steelers stink? Are you convinced yet? Philadelphia subbed out a lot of starters in the fourth quarter. The Eagles’ center, Jason Kelce, wore a Batman mask on the sideline. The Steelers got beat bad and treated like a joke. Rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett isn’t improving....
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: T.J. Watt won’t save Steelers
T.J. Watt practiced this past week. Watt said he was “trending” toward playing at Philadelphia. Percentages of likelihood were mooted. False reports were posted. Optimism soared. But Watt won’t play. Watt probably wasn’t ever going to. It was just chatter, a hope spot designed to temporarily buoy the locker room...
Mark Madden: MLB playoffs are must-see TV, but why the wait for the World Series?
I rarely watch the Pirates. Too depressing. Worse than “Dear Evan Hansen” even. But when playoff baseball starts, I watch. I miss the single-elimination wild-card games. They provided Game 7 excitement on the postseason’s first night. But nobody is ever happy about the format of the MLB playoffs. When three...
Mark Madden: Accept objective evaluation of Kenny Pickett
Kenny Pickett has thrown seven interceptions in 12-plus quarters of play. Besides picks, just about all of Pickett’s stats rank near the NFL’s bottom. Pickett did more than any Pittsburgh Steeler to lose Sunday’s game at Miami, throwing interceptions to end potential game-winning drives on the team’s last two possessions....
Mark Madden: Kenny Pickett will get better but progress will be slow and Steelers will lose a lot of games
Ben Roethlisberger now, at 40, would have won at Miami this past Sunday. Had Mitch Trubisky played like he did at home against Tampa Bay the prior Sunday, he would have also won at Miami. Kenny Pickett started, lost, and was a big part of losing. That’s OK. He’s a...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers shouldn’t trade Chase Claypool
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ alleged interest in trading receiver Chase Claypool would be a mistake. Any fan enthusiasm concerning a proposed swap is more evidence of the misguided belief that there’s some way to finagle the Steelers to a quicker fix. There isn’t. The Steelers won’t make the playoffs this season...
Mark Madden: Malkin line among many things to like about Penguins’ strong start
The Pittsburgh Penguins face a stiff early-season test as they hit the road for five games, including a particularly challenging three-game swing through Western Canada. Edmonton and Calgary are legit contenders. Vancouver is a dark horse experiencing a bad patch. But there’s lots to like about the Penguins’ 3-0-1 start,...
Mark Madden: Growing weary of several Steelers
Some Pittsburgh Steelers make me weary. Beyond the endless quarterback debate, that is. The most tiresome is receiver Diontae Johnson, the Dollar Tree version of Antonio Brown. Less expensive but less production. Less chaos, too, but still too much. Johnson got a two-year contract extension worth $36.71 million. He has...
Mark Madden: Steelers should start Mitch Trubisky — if they believe they are contenders
After Mitch Trubisky entered Sunday’s home win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third quarter because of Kenny Pickett’s concussion, Trubisky provided the best quarterback play the Pittsburgh Steelers have had all year. Better than Pickett. Better than Trubisky’s prior outings. That’s beyond argument. Numbers don’t lie. Trubisky was...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Hard to trust goaltenders for NHL’s top contenders
My prediction for the Stanley Cup Final is the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Edmonton Oilers. Toronto is too good to not get there sometime. The same can be said for Oilers uber-star Connor McJesus. But I don’t trust either team because I don’t trust either goaltender. The race for...
Mark Madden: Steelers need to set parameters for Mike Tomlin, limit his power with personnel
The Pittsburgh Steelers are 1-4. It’s a bad team, and the organization seems broken. There’s no foolproof way to fix it, and the timetable is hardly immediate. But I’ve got a plan. It’s based on the assumption that coach Mike Tomlin has usurped almost all the franchise’s power when it...
Mark Madden: If a group of old-timers can make another Stanley Cup run, it’s the Penguins’ Crosby, Malkin, Letang
After the Pittsburgh Penguins lost to Washington in the second round of the 2018 playoffs, I’d have traded Evgeni Malkin. Malkin had a no-movement clause but would have waived it to go to Florida, a rumored destination. His family has a home there. A big package of young talent and...
Mark Madden: The Steelers stink, and a fix could be years away
The Pittsburgh Steelers stink, and the horse manure is flying. Mike Tomlin threatened changes after Sunday’s 38-3 loss at Buffalo, be it to personnel or staff. But any change Tomlin makes will be to something he put in place. Kenny Pickett’s performance in his first NFL start is being overrated....
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Pirates ownership simply can’t be trusted
The Pittsburgh Pirates lost 100 games for a second consecutive year for the first time since 1952-54. That team cracked that regretful barrier three straight times. Next year’s squad won’t lose 100. Probably not, anyway. But the Pirates’ winning percentage in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season was .317, lowest in franchise...
Mark Madden: When placing blame for Steelers struggles, start with the defense
The numbers don’t lie. Except when they do. Pro Football Focus says the Steelers offensive line has allowed the least QB pressures in the NFL. Tight end Pat Freiermuth is on pace for 947 receiving yards. Heath Miller’s best season was 816 receiving yards. Cornerback Cameron Sutton has eight forced...
Mark Madden: Plenty must go right for Penguins to find success in ’22
The Penguins have made the Stanley Cup playoffs for an incredible 16 straight years. They haven’t won a playoff series since 2018. This season’s team should maintain the former streak. Can it end the latter streak? Can it win a first-round series after losing four in a row? Can it...
Mark Madden: It will get worse for Steelers before it gets better
Here’s some real talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are 1-3 on their way to 1-7 going into the bye week (2-6 at best): • Kenny Pickett erred horribly in his NFL debut. His second interception did as much as anything to lose the game. Pickett must throw that ball...
Mark Madden: Despite reputation, Mike Tomlin needs to be better for Steelers
Outside linebacker Melvin Ingram of the Miami Dolphins won AFC Defensive Player of the Month. Ingram played for the Pittsburgh Steelers last year until leaving after six games because he was unhappy with playing time. Coach Mike Tomlin granted Ingram his requested exit because, as Tomlin says, “We need volunteers,...
