Madden Monday: Losses to Eagles, Ravens makes you wonder if Steelers' hot start was 'fool's gold'

On the surface, back-to-back losses by scores of 27-13 and 34-17 to the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens look bad enough.

But as Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLive said during this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, things were actually worse than that.

“I think both the Philadelphia and Baltimore scores flattered to deceive,” Madden said. “The Steelers lost by considerable margins. But I thought the play was (by) a bigger margin. I think they got their (backside) whipped each of the last two weeks in every way you can. It makes you wonder how much of the 10-3 start was fool’s gold.”

It’s true that since the Steelers’ 3-0 start, they are just a 7-5 team. They could finish at a .500 clip over their last 14 games if they drop their next two at home to Kansas City and Cincinnati.

“It just feels like the season has taken a dip permanently. It feels like they can’t regenerate what they had,” Madden said. “They’re clearly fading, just like they do every year. Same as it ever was. And they’ll be content when it happens again next year because there’s a whole new standard, and it ain’t much of a standard.”

In previous podcasts, Madden and I had talked about the potential of the Steelers winning a first-round playoff game at home if they clinch the AFC North — or potentially going on the road to Houston and winning as the AFC’s top wild card.

But now he’s wavering on that prospect.

“Even if the Steelers wind up as the top wild card and get to face Houston, I’m at the point where — we had said we would feel good about a visit to Houston in the first round — I don’t know now. I don’t know about that with the way the Steelers are fading,” Madden said.

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The biggest problem Madden saw with these past two games is how the Eagles and Ravens physically manhandled the Steelers in the trenches.

“I don’t want to say they’re shrinking violets physically, but they got whomped by both Philadelphia and Baltimore. It wasn’t even close in that regard,” Madden said. “What did the Steelers do well? If you want a positive takeaway from the loss, you say, ‘OK, what did the Steelers do well?’ And my answer is, ‘Well, nothing, really.’”

Among those lines, because of Russell Wilson’s two backbreaking turnovers Saturday against the Ravens, Madden says the Steelers’ other shortcomings are being overlooked.

“They just were never in the game,” Madden said. “I know people are trying to feast on the two big mistakes Russ made — the fumble when he should have slid and the pick-six. But I’m not even sure the Steelers win (or are a serious threat to win) even if those two things don’t occur. It just never felt like a game the Steelers were likely to win.”

Also, during the podcast, Madden and I talk about the Penguins game in New Jersey on Saturday, the first round of the college football playoff, the Pitt volleyball loss and Paul Skenes’ long-term future with the Pirates.