Everything is bad with the Pittsburgh Steelers right now. Losing back-to-back home games against two-win teams (the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots) has sapped any enthusiasm moving forward for the rest of the season.
What’s even worse is that whenever the team is eventually eliminated from the playoffs — if they get there at all — we are going to have to start talking about the Penguins.
Ick. That can’t be good for anybody.
The Pens have lost four games in a row and five of six. They have exceeded three goals just once since Nov. 14. The power play is in the midst of a 0-for-37 slump and hasn’t scored since Nov. 11. With 25 points, only two teams, the Ottawa Senators (22 points) and Columbus Blue Jackets (23 points), have fewer points in the Eastern Conference.
During this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLive says Pittsburgh better buckle up for some hard times.
“Pittsburgh doesn’t have a divine right to have competitive teams all the time. I’ve lived throughout eras where none of the teams were competitive. And if that’s where we’re headed into, I’m used to it,” Madden said. “This is just the cycle of being a fan. And if you can’t live with it, then you never were a fan in the first place.”
Related:
• Tim Benz: Steelers’ back-to-back losses made history, but we've seen this before• First Call: Steelers open as underdogs in Indy, somehow still in playoff spot; Joe Flacco shining in Cleveland
• Late-season collapses not foreign to Steelers, coach Mike Tomlin
On the Steelers front, Madden thinks missing the playoffs may be the best possible result for the Steelers.
“If they do make the playoffs, people think everything’s OK and they’re not that far away,” Madden said. “And they are so far away. They are so far away from anything even remotely significant. So far away from even remotely having a respectable team, and (Mike) Tomlin is so far away from being a good coach.”
In terms of the Penguins, Madden isn’t ruling out a playoff run entirely. But it’s looking grim.
“Maybe the Penguins will rally and still make the playoffs. I mean, there’s a lot of games to be played,” Madden said. “But clearly, the Penguins have been on a downward cycle for quite some time. And I just hate this notion of ‘When they fire the coach, they win the cup! Fire the coach!’ I mean, don’t get me wrong, I think this is (Mike) Sullivan’s last year here. And that’s not because he’s a bad coach. It is because the message is just lost. And it’s time to have a new coach with what’s going to be a new group real soon. (General manager Kyle) Dubas wasn’t brought in to make the most out of the core three. He was brought in to pick up the pieces after the core three.”
Since we’re on the topic of firing coaches, what about Tomlin?
“Well, there’s a difference between firing Sullivan and Tomlin. I think Sullivan was a really good coach and probably still is. But he’s just gotten stale in this situation in a sport that dictates coaches hitting an expiration date more than any other,” Madden explained. “I don’t think Tomlin ever was a good coach. I think when you look back at the history of his career, you’re gonna say this guy did a lot with somebody else’s players, leaders and culture, and then it went to hell after that. He’ll still get the Hall of Fame for a lot of reasons. But he doesn’t deserve anywhere near it. He should have to buy a ticket to get into Canton.”
Also, in the podcast, we talk about the woes of the Penguins power play, the national media’s response to Tomlin’s struggles, and the Shohei Ohtani contract in Los Angeles.
