Madden Monday: 'I hate this defense' and 'I would have cut Kaleb Johnson before he got to the sideline'

The biggest reason for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss on Sunday afternoon was Kaleb Johnson’s flubbed kick return in the fourth quarter.

Down 17-14, the rookie running back allowed a kickoff to drop in the landing zone and skip by him into the end zone. He failed to cover it there, and Seattle pounced on it for a touchdown.

The Seahawks just recovered a kickoff in the end zone for a touchdown!

SEAvsPIT on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/0J1gEbqx4r

— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025

In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLive refused to give any grace to Johnson for making a rookie mistake.

“I would have cut Kaleb Johnson before he got to the sideline,” Madden insisted. “Maybe that’s impractical with a third-round pick, but there’s no excuse for him not knowing that rule.”

Madden also blames the Steelers coaches for failing to properly school Johnson on the rules.

“That reflects on Danny Smith, the special teams coach — who I’ve always felt is more of a mascot than a coach,” Madden said. “That was just an error, mostly on Johnson, shared by the coaches, inexcusable. It did more than anything to lose that game.”

Madden didn’t let the struggling defense off the hook. Last week, the Steelers yielded 394 yards to the New York Jets.

On Sunday, it gave up 395 yards to a Seattle team that struggled to move the ball against San Francisco in Week 1.

“I hate this defense,” Madden said. “I just can’t stand this defense. They have guys who just want more (money). They talk about history. You hear the word elite thrown around. T.J. Watt? I think he’s played OK, (but) when you just sign a deal for $41 million a year, you need to do better than OK. No sacks now in six consecutive games. And I don’t think Cam (Heyward) is going to reach his incentives. No sacks in two games. He got nothing but the old okie doke.”

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Through two games, the 789 yards Pittsburgh has allowed is the fourth most in the NFL. In Madden’s opinion, the defensive issues start up front.

“The whole front seven is getting pushed way back on the other team’s run plays,” Madden continued. “(Patrick) Queen and Payton Wilson are too light and (too) finesse. Having one of them as an inside ‘backer might be OK. But there should be a counterpoint, a different guy like Elandon Roberts used to be. These guys are two of a kind, and it doesn’t serve well.”

Above all, though, Madden claims fingers should be pointed at Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.

“When does Tomlin finally get blamed?” Madden asked. “I constantly think that the owner actually makes it tougher to fix things (by retaining Tomlin). He is an utter fraud, and (Monday) on ESPN, on ‘Get Up!’, you know what they’re going to say. ‘Well, I mean, you can’t blame Mike Tomlin. ‘And they’ll make a bunch of excuses.”

That’s pretty much what I expect too, and I expect very little of it to be fixed before next week in New England.

Also during the podcast, Madden and I discuss offensive struggles for the Steelers, the Sidney Crosby trade rumors and Pitt’s collapse at the “Backyard Brawl.”