The first game of the 2020 Steelers season is Monday night against the New York Giants. So Mark Madden and I start this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast with a heavy dose of football.

But the Penguins conversation is intriguing as well. Those that follow the team are trying to figure out if this franchise has enough gas in the tank to make another Stanley Cup run.

Madden has concerns.

“The Penguins are just in organic decline,” Madden said of the local club. “Like Chicago, Detroit and L.A. before them. You win and you win and win. Until suddenly you don’t win anymore.

“Except it’s not suddenly. That’s just the price you pay when you keep your stars and you give them a victory tour.”

Those three stars for the Penguins are Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin. In the case of Letang, there has been a some trade speculation surrounding him during his career.

And based on recent reports, the 33-year-old defenseman would like for it to cease. According to Madden, all the chatter has worn on Letang.

“He’s been nervous about a potential trade for five or six years,” Madden said. “Tanger just likes to think about stuff like that. He thinks about it too much. I don’t think he is going anywhere. I think he has, in the past, occasionally obsessed about it.

“If you trade him, you can’t make your team better for next year. Because, if you trade him, then you are saying the window isn’t open for next year, and you might as well trade Malkin.”

Are the problems with the Penguins fixable for general manager Jim Rutherford? Maybe. But, as Madden points out, one is not.

Fixing father time.

“I don’t think he can undo the aging process,” Madden explains. “In particular, the unwillingness of the stars, the coach and the team, in general; they see themselves as what they were and not how they are.”

As mentioned, we talk plenty of Steelers football as well. Like me, Mark sees the Giants keeping Monday night’s game with the Steelers close, especially for those gambling on that six-point spread.

We also discuss the Steelers’ attempts to stop Saquon Barkley, the absence of crowd noise so far in the NFL, and the Baltimore Ravens blowout win (38-6) over the Cleveland Browns Sunday.

Plus, we examine Pitt’s walkover victory (55-0) against Austin Peay, some opening game trends, and Liverpool’s victory in defense of its EPL title.

Listen: Tim Benz and Mark Madden discuss the Steelers opener; the state of the Penguins

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