Mark Madden Columns category
Mark Madden: Steelers could reunite Aaron Rodgers, Mike McCarthy — and waste another season
The Pittsburgh Steelers are reportedly open to Aaron Rodgers returning, even with Mike Tomlin quitting. Rodgers likely wouldn’t want to. He came to Pittsburgh specifically to play for Tomlin. But what if Mike McCarthy succeeded Tomlin? The Greenfield native coached Rodgers to a Super Bowl win (against the Steelers) in...
Mark Madden’s hot take: Steelers also need a roster reset
The Pittsburgh Steelers will have a new head coach. The Steelers are replacing their entire coaching staff. They will probably hire somebody else’s defensive coordinator to be their head coach, thus maintaining their misguided organizational commitment to prioritizing defense in an era of score more, faster. But this is as...
Mark Madden: Getting the right quarterback will be paramount for Steelers’ next coach
As the Pittsburgh Steelers begin the process of hiring a new coach, the profile of most candidates seems similar: another team’s defensive coordinator, in his late 30s to mid-40s, no prior NFL head coaching experience. There are exceptions, but here’s betting the job goes to a younger version of Mike...
Mark Madden: Assessing the Mike Tomlin era, where Steelers go from here
At 2 p.m. Tuesday on my radio program, I said, “If Mike Tomlin had an ounce of pride, he’d quit.” Tomlin’s resignation broke a little over five minutes later. So it was said, so it did come to pass. Now for the denouement: Refreshing Tomlin notes! A new day will...
Mark Madden: Penguins are headed for the worst possible destination
The Penguins stopped scoring. Lost 2-1 to visiting Calgary on Saturday, 1-0 at Boston on Sunday. Thus ends a six-game win streak. They got beat by two backup goaltenders. The two defeats leave the Penguins one point out of a wild card in the Eastern Conference. What should be their...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers’ QB upgrade to Aaron Rodgers has been minimal … so far
It’s been a relatively quiet season with Aaron Rodgers. He’s kept snark to a minimum, preferring the marginally different path of passive-aggressive. He’s been, by all accounts, a great leader that’s 100% respected by the locker room. Rodgers ceremoniously walks off the field after games with Mike Tomlin and Cam...
Mark Madden: If the Steelers can survive the 1st quarter, expect another winnable rock fightVideo
Mike Tomlin’s teams are always prepared. Except when they’re not. Like they weren’t in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ last five playoff games, all losses. Last season, the Steelers were down by 21 to Baltimore at halftime. The season before, they trailed Buffalo by 21 midway through the second quarter. In the...
Mark Madden: Myles Garrett holds the NFL sacks record, no matter how Steelers fans spin it
Myles Garrett set the single-season sack record last Sunday when Cleveland beat Cincinnati. Garrett’s feat triggered a few sidebars. • Did anybody in seasons past perform in more record-worthy fashion despite having fewer sacks than Garrett? • Did Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow lay down on Garrett’s milestone sack, effectively giving...
Mark Madden: Aaron Rodgers plays the hero, Steelers win the optics in pseudo playoff victory
The No. 1 story from Sunday night’s playoff to make the playoffs was undoubtedly Aaron Rodgers’ impeccable play late in the game. Rodgers drove the Steelers to touchdowns on their last two possessions, including a six-play, 65-yard march in 85 seconds during what could have been the final moments of...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers’ season finale is pass/fail for the Aaron Rodgers experiment
Sunday night’s game is a final exam for the Aaron Rodgers experiment in Pittsburgh. It’s pass/fail. No shades of gray. Rodgers was signed in the unspoken spirit of “all in,” to win now for the Steelers’ 30-something crew of Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt, etc. The Steelers had the AFC North...
Mark Madden: Olympics might produce great hockey, but they do nothing for NHL
So much about NHL players in the Olympics makes no sense: • The NHL is releasing its assets to play. Those assets are at risk to injury. If players get hurt, their salaries must still be paid by their employers, who gain nothing by their assets’ participation. • About that...
Mark Madden: Is Malik Willis really the answer at QB for the Steelers?
Every time a backup quarterback on an expiring contract has a good game in the NFL, the usual suspects bleat that the Steelers should get him next year. It’s an extension of a similar exercise practiced during college football, when a good performance by a quarterback evokes cries (or tweets)...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ loss at Cleveland littered with ineptitude
If the Pittsburgh Steelers blow the AFC North championship and the playoffs by losing at home to Baltimore on Sunday, Mike Tomlin should be fired before he gets off the field. But it’s more likely Tomlin will sprint to the office of Art Rooney II and immediately sign a lucrative...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Symbolism abounds as Myles Garrett chases T.J. Watt’s sack record
Myles Garrett needs one more sack to break T.J. Watt’s NFL single-season record of 22½. Garrett can set the mark when Cleveland hosts the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Watt won’t be in uniform but figures to be on the sideline watching. He might run on the field and try to...
Mark Madden: Like it or not, NFL needs its fans even more than players
Too many are too quick to say the blue-haired Detroit Lions fan who instigated with DK Metcalf should be banned from games. But that fan paid to get in. Metcalf was paid to be there. If the stadiums are empty and televisions don’t get turned on, the NFL doesn’t exist....
Mark Madden: DK Metcalf has only himself to blame
Only one person is to blame in the DK Metcalf imbroglio. It’s DK Metcalf. Sure, the blue-haired dipstick in the stands at Ford Field was looking to ensnare the Pittsburgh Steelers wideout in a web of stupidity. Shame on Metcalf for letting him. That dope had nothing to lose. Metcalf...
Mark Madden: A fool’s gold start has poisoned the Penguins’ developmental year
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a simple story. It’s not a very good roster. Evgeni Malkin getting hurt triggered the Penguins losing eight straight. But Malkin’s absence wasn’t responsible for their four late-game collapses during those eight defeats. Which felt worse, squandering those leads or getting shut out both games of...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Pitt volleyball shouldn’t be shielded from criticism
As soon as Pitt’s women’s volleyball team lost in the NCAA semifinals for a fifth straight season, we saw this sort of blather on social media: “(Pitt) should be incredibly proud for representing the school and Pittsburgh like total pros. Keep those heads up.” “I’m proud of Pitt volleyball. I...
Mark Madden: Mario Lemieux doesn’t need to save the Penguins again
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ ownership transition from Fenway Sports Group to the Chicago-based Hoffmann Family of Companies could be tricky. (Like any transfer of a business worth over a billion dollars.) But one thing is certain: Mario Lemieux will not ride in on a white horse to save the Penguins. Hasn’t he...
Mark Madden: Is this Steelers team better than last season’s?
After Monday night’s comfortable home win over Miami, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said “belief is starting to pick up.” He seemed to be trying to talk himself into it. Or perhaps his teammates. Maybe the citizens. It feels like the Steelers are headed to the same destination as last...
Mark Madden: Choking away 3rd-period leads brings clarity to Penguins’ situation
As bizarre as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ choking streak may be, and wholly inexcusable, it may provide clarity to an oft-debated situation: This is not a team capable of making the playoffs, let alone a playoff run, and president of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas should proceed accordingly. If that means stripping...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: With future in mind, the Penguins had to trade Tristan Jarry
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ dressing room perhaps wasn’t overjoyed by Friday’s trade of goalie Tristan Jarry to Edmonton. He was popular and mostly played well this season. But president of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas did the right thing. At 21, Sergei Murashov may not be the present of the Penguins’ goaltending...
Mark Madden: The version of Aaron Rodgers many expected has shown up
The NFL’s quarterbacking situation is nuts. Forty-four-year-old Philip Rivers is making a comeback with Indianapolis. He’s got a fat backside and extra chins, so he’s my favorite quarterback ever. Steelers reject Kenny Pickett is likely to start Sunday for Las Vegas against Philadelphia, another of his former teams. Cleveland rookie...
Mark Madden: Pirates are making free agency headlines, but is it all for show?
Some offers are meant to be refused. The Pittsburgh Pirates’ reported four-year, $100 million-plus offer to free-agent slugger Kyle Schwarber, for example. The Pirates knew Schwarber would get better offers. He ultimately re-upped with Philadelphia: Five years, $150 million. The Phillies dangled more cash and, obviously, a better chance to...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ lead in AFC North is restored, along with the Mike Tomlin narrative
The Pittsburgh Steelers are back atop the AFC North, and the narrative is back in place. It ranges somewhere between Kevin Bacon screaming “All is well!” in “Animal House” and Aaron Rodgers saying, “Means maybe (the media) will shut the hell up for a week.” It doubtless involves every talking...
