Mark Madden is back from Las Vegas for our Madden Monday podcast. It wasn’t the typical Vegas vacation for Double-M. But at least he had a better time there than the Cleveland Browns had at Heinz Field.
Oof! The Steelers thumped the Browns 38-7. Mark and I seem to be on the same page with analysis of that score: That result says a lot more about the state of the Browns than it does the Steelers.
The Browns proved how their 4-1 start was fraudulent. The 5-0 Steelers are simply establishing themselves in the AFC hierarchy.
They may not be Kansas City Chiefs — or Baltimore Ravens — level good. Yet. But the next-notch-of-the-AFC kinda good? Yes. And the Tennessee Titans are in that group, too. Actually, at 5-0, Tennessee might be better than that. We’ll see as the two teams face each other next week in Nashville.
“I think the Steelers are probably as good as Tennessee,” Madden said. “I still think they are a cut below Baltimore and Kansas City. But they put themselves in a good position to prove they are better than that.”
Mark believes that the Steelers may have been aided in advance of the delay for this matchup. I think it’s the other way around. I’ll tell you why.
We also try to figure out a way around the Devin Bush injury at inside linebacker. He’s likely facing a season-ending surgery. Mark has an idea — make a trade. And maybe use JuJu Smith-Schuster as bait.
“It really makes you wonder if they should make a trade for a starting inside backer,” Madden said. “But they won’t. It makes me wonder if they should trade JuJu Smith-Schuster for a starting inside backer. But they won’t.
“JuJu has disappeared. He is old news in this offense. I think that is very apparent after two catches today. Chase Claypool has just taken JuJu and put him at the fringe of the picture.”
I wouldn’t be opposed to that concept. But two concerns leap to mind. The first would be salary cap issues, depending on who the target is. The second would be the health of fellow receiver Diontae Johnson. If he is going to be constantly sidelined with injuries, trading Smith-Schuster may be shortsighted.
Then we dive into the Cody Ceci signing. The Penguins acquired the free agent defensemen over the weekend. The fan base was underwhelmed about the signing. And Mark seems lukewarm as well. But he says criticism of the Ceci acquisition is misplaced.
We tackle all those topics plus a discussion about Pitt football, examining the shelf life of Robert Spillane, and a review of Jack White on “Saturday Night Live.”
