Madden Monday: 'I just don't see the progress' after narrow win against Raiders

It’s really not that hard to break down the Steelers-Raiders game that took place on Christmas Eve.

The Las Vegas Raiders had a dominant drive to start the game. The Pittsburgh Steelers had a dominant drive to end the game.

In between, the Steelers won 6-3.

That’s it. That’s the analysis.

During this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X said don’t let a winning result inflate your perception of how the Steelers played.

“They struggled in the win,” Madden said. “Kenny Pickett was terrible except for the last drive. I just don’t see how people think this team is making progress. It’s 7-8, which allows (coach Mike) Tomlin’s continued failure to hide in plain sight. I heard one talking head on ESPN say it’s one of Tomlin’s best coaching jobs ever, which is absolutely ridiculous.”

So the crowd that stuck it out through brutally cold conditions didn’t get to see a lot of fireworks, but they at least saw a win for the holidays. And they saw a victory in memory of Franco Harris as his No. 32 was retired.

By Steelers crowd standards, very few showed up. It was probably only half full at Acrisure Stadium. But the fans that were there were enthused and vocal.

“The crowd was invested because they paid a price,” Madden said, referring to the cold much more so than the actual price of tickets. “Those who weren’t willing stayed home. And that made the crowd one of the best at Acrisure in years. I give those people all kinds of credit. But I think they need to take a drug test as well.”

There wasn’t much to cheer about at all offensively until the Steelers’ fourth-quarter game-winning drive. The previous Steelers drives ended in three punts, two field goals, two missed field goals and an interception.

Kenny Pickett only threw for a modest 244 yards on the evening, with 75 yards of that total coming on the team’s lone touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. The victory improved the Steelers’ win total to 7-8 with two games remaining. So the prospect of avoiding a losing season for what would be a 19th consecutive time is still in play. Although Madden doesn’t see that accomplishment as worthy of praise as some do.

“It’s not in the remotest sense an accomplishment,” Madden said.

“Only one win is against a winning team, and that win is against Cincinnati by the grace of their long snapper getting hurt. Other than that, they have six wins against losing teams, and most of those by one score or less. So I just don’t see the progress. I don’t see the progress with Pickett either.”

Also in today’s podcast, Madden and I discuss the state of the AFC playoffs heading into Week 17 and how the NFL Network cut away from the Franco Harris celebration at halftime.

We delve into hockey too, as the Penguins find themselves in an increasingly tight Metropolitan Division. We take a look at Evgeni Malkin’s play of late and some of the Penguins issues in overtime so far this season.

Listen: Tim Benz and Mark Madden talk Steelers, Penguins