The Pittsburgh Steelers pulled off a 29-24 upset in Detroit on Sunday. Plus, the Baltimore Ravens lost.
So it was a good day all around.
Well, except for DK Metcalf. He had a pedestrian four catches for 42 yards, dropped a pass, committed an offensive pass interference penalty and had a touchdown erased when Darnell Washington committed an OPI of his own.
But it was what Metcalf did on the sideline that raised eyebrows across the NFL.
The wide receiver got into an altercation with a fan.
DK Metcalf appears to have an altercation with a Detroit fan pic.twitter.com/a478Zjg3tR
— NFL on CBS ???? (@NFLonCBS) December 21, 2025
Another angle of DK Metcalf’s altercation with a fan. No punch, but still an interaction that could draw league discipline. pic.twitter.com/ZYbAGdOWub
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 22, 2025
As ProFootballTalk phrased it, “precedent for incidents of this nature points to a fine. Once the league takes a closer look at the video and considers the relevant factors, however, a stronger punishment could be imposed on Metcalf.”
If that means a suspension, that’s a big loss for the Steelers heading into Cleveland next week.
In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLive is not willing to give Metcalf any benefit-of-the-doubt points.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen to him. I bet he only gets a fine, because I don’t think the NFL likes to affect competitive balance in a situation like this. But that was ridiculous,” Madden said. “What could that moron have been thinking?”
Madden put the blame at the feet of head coach Mike Tomlin.
“They’re coached by a guy who’s so laissez-faire, the term might as well be renamed after him,” Madden said. “There’s no accountability. Bill Cowher and Chuck Noll would have benched DK Metcalf without him being ejected, no question.”
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Madden wasn’t thrilled with how Metcalf played either.
“He is a bust. And I don’t care how far they go. I don’t think they’ll go very far despite this three-game winning streak. He is a bust,” Madden said.
Also in the podcast, Mark and I discuss the Steelers’ win itself, the positives in the run game, an all-too-rare Penguins shootout win, Sidney Crosby passing Mario Lemieux on the all-time Penguins scoring list and the Pirates trading for Brandon Lowe.
