Madden Monday: 'The Steelers can't play defense, and Aaron Rodgers is really good'

For Mark Madden of TribLive and 105.9 The X, the analysis of the Steelers’ 34-32 win over the New York Jets is pretty simple.

Aaron Rodgers and the passing game: Thumbs up.

Everything else: Thumbs down.

“It comes down to the Steelers can’t play defense, and Aaron Rodgers is really good,” Madden said on this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast. “Aaron Rodgers played better in that game than he did all season last year in any one game for the New York Jets. Of course, that could be because last year, he never had the opportunity to play against the Jets. But I thought he was just tremendous.”

Madden says Rodgers excelled when it came to the tangibles and intangibles.

“I thought he took some hits to make plays. He got sacked four times, kept getting up, threw for four touchdowns, and just seemed in command. The offense got in and out of the huddle fast,” Madden said. “Everything was very crisp and organized, and I don’t think we realized how unorganized and how much it lacked that kind of crisp pace last year, because we just never saw it done right all season.”

The comprehensive list of QBs with 240 Pass Yards, 4 Pass TD and 0 INT in their team debut over last 60 NFL seasons

- Aaron Rodgers (Week 1 vs Jets)

End of list pic.twitter.com/o2cI0OQKMA

— NFL on CBS ???? (@NFLonCBS) September 7, 2025

The other side of the ball, though, was a different story. The Steelers yielded 394 yards in total offense, 182 of which were on the ground.

“I kept seeing (Patrick) Queen and Payton Wilson getting run over on running plays — whether by the ball carriers or, more often, with blocking. They just looked weak against the run,” Madden said. “I know the defensive line has got to do better. I don’t think it’s as simple as (Derrick) Harmon coming back. I think there are more problems there than just him having been out. I think being bad against the run is in the DNA of that defense. It’s happened so much, it’s just gonna keep happening.”

Madden also ripped the Steelers’ own running game, which only totaled 53 yards, and he wasn’t wild about the coaching either.

“(Mike) Tomlin is not a good coach. This team isn’t administered properly. The roster is assembled poorly. There is just so much bad about it,” Madden said. “We can look at Rodgers and say he played great, that’s a good pickup. But they still beat a team that is definitely in the bottom five of the NFL by only two points.”

Also in the podcast, Madden and I discuss Justin Fields’ performance, the rest of the first week of the NFL, and Bubba Chandler’s rough day at PNC Park.