Madden Monday: Steelers season prediction 'leaning toward 7-10' because offensive line will be the NFL's worst

If you asked a lot of Pittsburgh Steelers fans in February for their opinion of how the team would fare in 2022, they likely would have said, “I don’t know. That depends on who ends up being the quarterback.”

Once it was known that Mason Rudolph would be joined by Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett, that response usually turned into, “I don’t know. Let’s see how those quarterbacks look at the end of camp.”

Now that all three performed better in the preseason than most anticipated, a lot of Steelers fans have upped their predictions on how the team will be this fall.

Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLIVE has a slightly different stance. He’s also got an increasingly optimistic view of the quarterback play but not of the team overall.

With Week 1 of the NFL season now upon us, Madden seems to think the Steelers record may fall back a game or two, even though the QBs may be on a faster track than we all were expecting when the club reported to training camp in late July.

“I came into camp thinking they’d go 8-9,” Madden said on this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast. “And even though I was impressed with the camp and the quarterbacks, and especially impressed with Mitch Trubisky, I think they will go 7-10. That’s not my official prediction. I’ll make that on my radio show Friday. But I’m leaning toward 7-10 because I think that offensive line will be the very worst in the league.”

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While Madden’s biggest gripe is with the offensive line, he sees issues on the other side of the ball, as well.

“I think that defense, despite the three stars (T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick), it might be top 10, but it won’t be in the top 5,” Madden continued. “It won’t be that dominant, game-winning (kind of) defense. So I’m kind of looking at 7-10 right now even though there are some things I’m more optimistic about than when the camp started.”

Madden said there will be some important early-season watermarks along the way for the Steelers to gauge where they are going to be by season’s end. That initial slog of six games includes two divisional road contests in Cincinnati (Week 1) and Cleveland (Week 3). Plus, they’ll also face three teams who were 2021 playoff qualifiers — New England, Buffalo and Tampa Bay.

“I think the key game is at Cleveland,” Madden said. “No matter what happens in the first two games, if you can’t beat Jacoby Brissett — if you can’t beat Cleveland with its backup quarterback — then you are not a contender for anything. Not remotely so.”

But with all the changes to the Steelers this year, if they go 3-3 over their first six games, that won’t be so bad. Madden, however, is going to need some convincing of that prospect.

“I can cut to one word when it comes to the factor of what it will take to go 3-3 after six games: luck,” Madden said. “L-U-C-K. They need a heaping helping. No question about that.”

Also, during the podcast, Madden and I talk about the Backyard Brawl. We get into some Pirates conversation. And we discuss the new ideas for a college football playoff format.

Plus, Madden has a big guest announcement for Friday’s show.

Listen: Madden Monday with Tim Benz and Mark Madden — talking Steelers, the Backyard Brawl and more