U mad, bro?: Penguins trade talk, Erik Karlsson's play, criticism of Mike Tomlin drawing the ire of Pittsburgh fans
A lot of things about the Pittsburgh sports scene didn’t exactly go over great with the audience this week.
The high NFLPA grades for Mike Tomlin continue to generate angry dialogue. So do Erik Karlsson’s mishaps and Penguins trade rumors.
Hey, at least we aren’t talking politics in this week’s “U mad, bro?” Nothing good ever comes from talking poli….
Uh, oh.
John didn’t like the opinion from Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter that his two-way play is harder to accomplish in the NFL than what Shohei Ohtani does in Major League Baseball.
Isn't hitting a fastball considered one of the most difficult things in athletics? I couldn't even imagine hitting a curve ball from an MLB player.
— John Eru Anthony Abiff (@DibuonoJohn) March 5, 2025
Based on last year’s results, most of the Pirates in the lineup would probably say something similar.
This person echoes my rage about Erik Karlsson’s play of late for the Penguins.
Went to Saturday's game. He got smoked all day and night. I wanted to spray apple juice on him and call it brisket.
— GoBills!???? (@homecourt724) March 4, 2025
Forget apple juice. This is Erik Karlsson we are talking about. Don’t you mean apple… turnovers??!!
Andrew hates the idea of a Rickard Rakell trade.
Finally find a winger for Sid and of course TRADE HIM is discussed. May as well trade Rusty too purge the team
— andrew S (@burgthing) March 3, 2025
Well, yeah. I mean, that’s generally how rebuilds happen.
I know it has become popular to say lately that total rebuilds never work. They sure did for the Penguins starting in the early 1980s and again in the early 2000s, though, didn’t they?
After all, does trying to live in the middle ever work? It hasn’t for the Penguins the last three years. And it also hasn’t worked for a certain football team across the river either.
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Dean sent me a social media message defending Mike Tomlin after I ripped Steelers players for giving him an “A” in the annual NFLPA grades (despite zero playoff wins since 2017).
”Let’s break down the playoff games:
JAX ‘17 - (butt) kicking at home with a good team, no excuse
CLE ‘20 - you mean THAT was Mike’s fault?
KC - ‘21 - lost 36-10, Ben turned it over twice and Dionte fumbled
BUF ‘23 - with Mason, you really thought they had a shot?
BAL - better team.”
Welp, here we go.
• Cleveland defeat in 2020 — Lost to the Browns’ special teams coach and only half their roster because of coronavirus. Punted late. Covered Jarvis Landry with Robert Spillane.
• The ‘21/’23/’24 losses — So always assembling a lesser roster and never having the better QB is an excuse for the coach when the coach is the one most responsible for building the roster and choosing the QBs?
That’s fun! How does that work, exactly?
• 2018 & ‘19 — Collapsed late and missed the playoffs.
We could do this all day. So let’s stop.
You think nothing is his fault. I think a lot of it is.
We will still be arguing about it eight more years from now when nothing has changed, and they are celebrating year 16 of never having a losing season, yet never winning a playoff game.
This friendly emailer also disagreed with my stance.
“So now you know more about coaches than the players that they coach do? I know that you have to write something, but are you just trying to be an (expletive)?”
I know Tomlin has gone eight straight years without a playoff win. I’m pretty sure they know that too. As do you.
So now, who is the one just trying to be an (expletive)?
Hee-Haw!
Finally, David has a suggestion for the Steelers that seems to be inspired by someone at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
”I was wondering if you think it would be a good idea if the Steelers required all their employees to do a 5-point list of their accomplishments last year? And if you think anyone from Rooney to the ball boys can list 5. And could any justify their continued employment?”
Hmm. How about Chris Boswell? He could list 13 made field goals over 50 yards. That pretty much qualifies him for a Supreme Court nomination, doesn’t it?
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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