On the heels of an embarrassing 30-6 loss in Houston on Sunday, Mark Madden of TribLIVE and 105.9 The X has a big picture point to raise about the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Maybe this is the real Steelers. Maybe they got kind of lucky to win the last two games. They got trashed by San Francisco Week 1. Maybe it’s not a very good team,” Madden said. “Everybody has gone to the default mode of blaming Matt Canada. I am not the champion for his cause. I would not have brought him back this season. But the head coach (Mike Tomlin) is a bigger problem because he hired Canada, promoted Canada, retained Canada, approves of everything that Canada does — at least you know by default, by just letting the game plan be what it is. And the team came out flat. Again.”

But Madden insists that neither of those guys are the biggest problem with the Steelers. Nor was the dreadful defense Sunday.

“The biggest problem is Kenny Pickett. It’s not too early to think that he might be a bust. The sample size is not small anymore. He just can’t make the throws. Pure and simple. That’s the easiest way to explain Kenny Pickett’s problems,” Madden said.

He pointed to the underthrown interception by Texans cornerback Steven Nelson in the first quarter of the game as an example.

“If he gets that ball there quickly, the guy (Calvin Austin III) is open. That’s a touchdown. He badly underthrew it, didn’t get rid of it right away. He’s just awful so far in his career,” Madden explained.

• First Call: Ex-Steelers bask in afterglow of beating former team in Houston; Matt Canada angst extends to 'College GameDay' • Kenny Pickett's injury piles more misery on Steelers' loss to Texans • 1st-rounder Broderick Jones gets significant snaps in place of injured Steelers tackle Dan Moore Jr.

Sunday was Pickett’s 17th NFL game. So that’s a full season’s worth of appearances, although a few were truncated due to injury and one wasn’t a start. His career quarterback rating is 77.4.

“We hang our hat on a couple of drives he had, maybe a couple of average games like he had against Vegas last week. But, Kenny Pickett, I don’t even want to say he’s regressed. I keep hearing that word: ‘regressed.’ I don’t think he’s ever been good,” Madden continued.

Now with Pickett potentially sidelined with a knee injury the Steelers may have to turn to last year’s displaced starter Mitch Trubisky. Madden isn’t optimistic about how that may go from Pickett’s point of view.

“If Mitch plays next week, that’s an upgrade the way Pickett’s playing. Mitch can’t do worse. Right now, Kenny Pickett is the worst quarterback in the NFL,” Madden said.

In this week’s podcast, Madden and I also discuss the failure of the defense Sunday, the state of the AFC North, the start of Penguins preseason and the conclusion of the Pirates’ 2023 campaign.

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