Madden Monday: Back-to-back Steelers wins are 'not the beginning of a new season'

The Pittsburgh Steelers have their first winning streak of the season. It’s now … well … two games long.

But they’ll take it.

In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, though, Mark Madden of TribLIVE and 105.9 The X said don’t get too fired up about it.

“They are 5-7,” Madden said. “These two wins in a row — albeit on the road — (were) narrow wins over bad teams. They nearly blew both games in the second half. They only scored three touchdowns total in the two games. I see this as just a matter of winning some bad football games. Not a renaissance. Not the beginning of a new season.”

Madden said a late-season correction to the middle for the Steelers record shouldn’t change our interpretation of who they really are as a franchise.

“They are what they are. They are just a mediocre football team,” Madden said.

“I don’t see the progress being made, though. I don’t see the progress being made as a team. I don’t see the progress being made individually.”

Madden said that is especially true when it comes to evaluating rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett, who has gotten more functional since the bye four weeks ago.

“Everybody is saying this was a great game by Pickett. He was 16 of 28 for 197 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. How is that a great game? He is not making plays. He is a game manager. He is getting close wins over bad teams. No quick-strike inclination. I don’t understand where he is playing well, where he is improving,” Madden said.

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Well, two things are clearly better for Pickett. Since the bye, he hasn’t thrown an interception. And he’s not running into sacks like he was doing a few weeks ago. But Madden thinks we should raise the bar in our assessment.

“Pickett threw 28 passes. The Steelers ran the ball 37 times. They possessed the ball for 33 minutes. They kicked four field goals. That may be the formula for winning in 1970. It just doesn’t work now. It is outdated,” Madden argued. “The Steelers aren’t expanding what they do. Instead, they are scratching and clawing to get wins that just don’t matter — that will drop them down the draft board.”

Madden insisted that’s not the way to do business moving forward.

“I don’t think that’s going to win enough games. Ever,” Madden said. “You’ve got to try to expand the way you play. And try to come in line with what wins today in the NFL, and not to (beat) Atlanta or Indianapolis or the bad teams they have beaten.”

Also, during the podcast, we discuss next week’s game against the Ravens with an injured Lamar Jackson. Plus, we discuss the Penguins’ adjustments without Kris Letang. And we get into the Bryan Reynolds trade talk surrounding the Pirates.

Listen: Tim Benz and Mark Madden talk Steelers, Penguins and Pirates