Mark Madden Columns category, Page 42
Mark Madden: Steelers played major role in Browns struggles
The Steelers and Cleveland Browns have a rivalry akin to windshield vs. bug. The real rivalry moved with the real Browns to Baltimore in 1996. Oh, how we laughed. The real Browns have won two Super Bowls in Baltimore. Would they have won those had the real Browns remained in...
Mark Madden: Little mystery surrounds Penguins in training camp, but questions remain
Penguins training camp opens next week. Not much is shrouded in mystery. The top six is set: Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin at center. Jake Guentzel, Kasperi Kapanen, Bryan Rust and Jason Zucker at wing. There will be movement within that group, but not in and out of that group....
Mark Madden: Steelers not yet as good as their record, but they have guts
When it comes to comebacks, it’s easy to confuse a last gasp with a new beginning. Such is the case in the wake of the Steelers’ improbable 28-24 victory over Indianapolis at Heinz Field Sunday. The Steelers trailed 24-7 early in the second half. The problems that have plagued them...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers have underachieved in playoffs for past decade
Even if the Steelers lose out, including a wild-card playoff defeat, they will not make a coaching change. (By the way, if they don’t win Sunday at home vs. Indianapolis, they won’t win again.) Mike Tomlin is immune to unemployment. That’s because he never has had a losing season and...
Mark Madden: Pre-Mario Penguins provided plenty of memorable moments
Everybody remembers Mario Lemieux scoring five goals, five ways on New Year’s Eve, 1988. (Although nobody figured out exactly what Lemieux had done ‘til the next day.) But who remembers when the Penguins netted five goals in 127 seconds? I do. I was there. It was glorious. As the NHL...
Mark Madden: JuJu Smith-Schuster’s dancing isn’t a cause for Steelers collapse, but it’s a symptom
Joe Haden, a Steeler for four seasons and NFL player for 11, summed up the state of Steelers’ leadership when he tweeted, “My dawg @TeamJuJu dancing is the least of our problems.” The plane has crashed into the mountain. But let my dawg dance. JuJu Smith-Schuster dancing on opposition logos...
Mark Madden: Penguins need to play different kind of hockey to succeed in new East division
The NHL allegedly starts Jan. 13 after a training camp of approximately 15 minutes. That’s right in the middle of the NFL playoffs. Will made-for-TV hockey capture America’s fancy? It didn’t this past summer. With big financial losses guaranteed for every team, there doesn’t seem a logical reason to play...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: It’s an anniversary year for Penguins’ most star-studded Cup team
It crept up quietly because of covid, but 2021 is the 30th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first Stanley Cup championship season. AT&T SportsNet aired the official highlight video Thursday. It didn’t look like today’s hockey. The goalies wore reasonably sized equipment. Blocking shots wasn’t every player’s sworn duty. There’s...
Mark Madden: Someone in Steelers locker room should stop JuJu’s pregame logo dancing
It started with Watergate. Since then, we have affixed the suffix “-gate” to myriad controversies. Sports have been included: Bounty-gate, Deflate-gate, Spy-gate. Two of those three involve the New England Patriots, which means Bill Belichick > Richard Nixon. Now we have JuJu-gate. If it wasn’t called that before, it is...
Mark Madden: Steelers should rest Ben Roethlisberger after locking up AFC North title
If Ben Roethlisberger is washed up, there’s nothing the Steelers can do to fix that short of inventing a time machine. But assuming Roethlisberger is at road’s end seems abrupt given a mere fistful of bad games — although Roethlisberger’s long throws have been ineffective all season on the sporadic...
Mark Madden: Shortcomings piling up for Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers offense
They don’t award a trophy for starting the season 11-0. That’s too bad, because the Steelers have zero chance at the Lombardi Trophy. It would be nice to win something. For those who didn’t know better, the Steelers had big buzz at 11-0. But those who did know better (ahem)...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: 20 years later, Mario Lemieux’s comeback still unmatched
Somebody could break Wayne Gretzky’s scoring records. Somebody could score five goals, five ways again. Somebody could score three goals in 20 seconds. (Bill Mosienko did it in 21 seconds. Look it up.) Outstanding feats come and go. They are matched or bettered all the time. Somebody wins the Stanley...
Mark Madden: Game at Buffalo will show what the Steelers are made of — one way, or the other
Sunday night’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo is the Credibility Bowl. The winner gets perceived to be in the AFC’s upper echelon with Kansas City. The loser is back in the pack. If the Steelers felt disrespected when many said they weren’t as good as their record, this...
Mark Madden: Steelers need more from running game to be legit contender
The Steelers have to run the ball more and better. They’re not forced to be one-dimensional. They do so voluntarily. It makes them predictable and easy to defend. If the Steelers feel they can’t run, they better figure out how to. Perhaps revisit how they did it earlier this season....
Mark Madden: College football needs better system to determine national champion
Lots of things are stupid about sports. Idiocy isn’t the sole reason why viewing numbers are down for almost every big-time league. But it certainly isn’t helping. Replay review has bogged down the pace and robbed sports of its emotion and spontaneity. We don’t look forward to big plays anymore....
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: The Steelers are better without Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown
As Pittsburgh celebrates the success of the 11-0 Steelers, take a moment to bask in the abject failure of Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, aka the Toxic Twins. These two Einsteins finagled their way out of Pittsburgh, mistakenly thinking pastures would be greener and more glorious elsewhere. Bell went to...
Mark Madden: Sure, the Steelers are undefeated but skepticism is warranted
The Steelers are 11-0. It’s a weak 11-0. That sounds (is) absurd. But the Steelers have three wins of much note. Beating Daniel Jones, Jeff Driskel, Carson Wentz, Garrett Gilbert, Jake Luton and Robert Griffin III doesn’t add up to a championship-level resume. Those victories against rotten quarterbacks duly noted,...
Mark Madden: Forget January; the NHL shouldn’t return until October
The NHL season is scheduled to start in January … or February. March, perhaps. But perhaps October of 2021 would be the best idea. Barring utter failure of the covid vaccine or a chicken-hearted approach to returning to normalcy once it’s taken a foothold, it’s difficult to imagine that hockey...
Mark Madden: NFL has billions of reasons to trudge on through covid mess
The NFL has problems. The Steelers-Ravens game just refuses to be played. The Ravens have 23 players on the covid list, including six of last year’s Pro Bowlers. The Steelers have four players listed. James Conner tested positive and, as a cancer survivor, is at higher risk. The same applies...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: A pandemic doesn’t know how to be fair; the NFL has to make do
Since the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens got pushed back to Sunday and then Tuesday, two themes have emerged via local angst: • Baltimore broke the rules. • The Steelers have been hard done by. The former implies that an outbreak of covid is akin to jumping...
Mark Madden: Diego Maradona had his flaws, but will be remembered as greatest soccer player ever
One game summed up Diego Maradona: Argentina’s 2-1 victory over England in a 1986 World Cup quarterfinal. Maradona scored both his side’s goals. He cheated to score the first, disguising a handball with a flick of his head. “The Hand of God.” The second involved skill that only God could...
Mark Madden: Tom Brady’s mystique is dissipating while others step into spotlight
When Tom Brady ditched New England and coach Bill Belichick to join Tampa Bay for the 2020 season, debate raged immediately: Who made who? What we’ve learned, however, should have been obvious: They made each other. Minus Brady (and eight covid opt-outs), Belichick’s Patriots are 4-6 and out of realistic...
Mark Madden: Steelers are juggernaut, whether they look it or not
Sunday’s 27-3 win at Jacksonville showed why the Pittsburgh Steelers, despite being 10-0, aren’t on top of all the power rankings and why they would be underdogs vs. Kansas City, even at Heinz Field. It was unentertaining and nondescript. The Steelers stumbled through the first quarter, put the game away...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Odds are stacked against undefeated Steelers season
Jake Scott passed away Thursday. Scott was an All-Pro safety for the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only undefeated team in NFL history. Scott was MVP in that season’s final game, Super Bowl VII. He had two interceptions. Scott went to his grave not knowing if the current Steelers would finish...
Mark Madden: National media continues to disrespect Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger
Former NFL executive Gil Brandt posted a Twitter poll: Who is the NFL MVP? Voting for Ben Roethlisberger (four interceptions, no losses) wasn’t an option. Kyler Murray (eight interceptions, three losses) was. Russell Wilson (10 interceptions, three losses) was. Rudy Giuliani needs to get to the bottom of this. Former...
