Let’s try to view the results of Sunday’s Super Bowl victory for the Kansas City Chiefs over the Philadelphia Eagles through the lens of what it means for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLIVE offers a rather blunt assessment.
“They are nowhere close to being in a game like that,” Madden said. “Nowhere close to challenging teams like those. Nowhere close.”
To underscore that point, remember that the Steelers lost to the Eagles this year 35-13. Plus, they dropped two games in Kansas City by a combined score of 78-31 a year ago.
And, honestly, they weren’t even that close.
As for the game itself, Madden said the coach-and-quarterback combination of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes was simply too much to overcome for the Eagles, despite their formidable defensive front.
In particular, Madden praised Kansas City’s ability to neutralize the Eagles pass rush, which registered 78 sacks in 20 games this season. Yet they had none in the Super Bowl.
“It seemed like Mahomes was able to step up in the pocket,” Madden said. “The pocket gave him a lot of room vertically. He did some things when he got outside the pocket too. But he got up in the pocket. And he ran the ball where the Eagles gave some room.”
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Madden and I also had a deep conversation about the Penguins. He thinks their 6-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday tells far less of a story as to where this team is than the 6-0 loss in Los Angeles on Saturday.
“They can’t beat good teams. It’s as simple as that,” Madden said. “That game against L.A. was horrific. They are probably going to squeeze into the playoffs and get killed in the playoffs. Because guess what they are going to get in the playoffs? Maybe a really good team in Carolina or Boston.”
As of now, the Penguins hold the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference at 61 points, that’s one better than the ninth-place New York Islanders.
Also in the podcast, Madden and I discuss some other details from the Super Bowl, Rihanna’s halftime show, the commercials, Penguins trade talk and more.
