Mark Madden stories, Page 10
Mark Madden: Dominoes have started falling in the Penguins’ rebuild, but questions remain
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ 7-1 home loss to the Dallas Stars on Monday was a white flag of sorts. Trading center Lars Eller to Washington the next day was confirmation thereof. The Penguins can’t compete with top-tier teams, not least because they ill-advisedly attempt to beat them at their own game...
Mark Madden: Beating Ravens would legitimize Steelers’ hopes of AFC North title … and more
Refreshing sports notes, top of the league! Sports notes, top of the league! • Beating Washington on the road legitimizes the Steelers’ 7-2 record. Beating Baltimore at Acrisure Stadium this coming Sunday would legitimize their pursuit of the AFC North championship and their possibility of winning a playoff game. (Or...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Commanders’ no-huddle will be 60-minute challenge for Steelers
I don’t possess much tactical acumen when it comes to football. Like Matt Canada. But it feels like Washington’s commitment and success using the no-huddle offense could provide a decisive edge in Sunday’s matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Commanders (7-2) have run an average of 37 plays per game...
Mark Madden: Penguins are done winning and shouldn’t be afraid to rebuild
With Nashville off to a 4-9-1 start and sitting last in the NHL’s Central Division, GM Barry Trotz said, “If we don’t get it going, then I’m going to start our rebuild plan.” Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas needs to say the same, then follow through. The Penguins are 5-8-2...
Mark Madden: Steelers needed more than predictable, underwhelming at trade deadline
Acquiring wideout Mike Williams from the New York Jets at Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline was token and just not enough. The investment sends a message of belief to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ locker room, though it’s easily dismissed if considered realistically. Most fans will be fooled. Fans usually are. There are some...
Mark Madden: Omar Khan, Steelers running out of time to acquire wide receiver
Spring ahead, fall back, refreshing sports notes always! We’re going to win this one, take the country by storm! • The Steelers were reportedly talking to Jacksonville about a trade for wideout Christian Kirk, but Kirk broke his collarbone. So, the Steelers almost got Kirk, almost got Brandon Aiyuk and...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Slow down Super Bowl talk until Steelers add WR, win AFC North
After a 6-2 start, the Pittsburgh Steelers are being branded Super Bowl contenders by those obliged to fast-forward from the bye week directly to New Orleans. I’ll play along. Russell Wilson at quarterback has made the offense crisp and versatile. George Pickens has been snatched off the milk carton and...
Mark Madden: ESPN has fallen drastically far from glory days of The Worldwide Leader
ESPN used to be what it says it is: The Worldwide Leader. Now? Not even close. With the New York Jets disintegrating on Aaron Rodgers’ watch, Rodgers and ESPN host Pat McAfee conducted a lengthy discourse about Rodgers appearing to eat his boogers on the sideline. Discussion of the Jets’...
Mark Madden: For Penguins, things will get worse before they get better
As the Pittsburgh Penguins continue to nose-dive, even searching for solutions is problematic. There’s a lot the Penguins won’t do. The Penguins won’t make a coaching change. Because Mike Sullivan is their Bill Belichick, according to owners Fenway Sports Group. Except this Belichick didn’t wait to lose Tom Brady before...
Mark Madden: Plenty of scapegoats for the Penguins’ 5-year collapse
The Penguins are already in deep trouble. Not just because they’re 3-6-1 after losing four straight games in Western Canada. But because they look utterly impotent and disorganized, with the same old problems cropping up game after game: Blowing leads, conceding goals in quick succession, giving goals right back, allowing...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: What good is replay review when it abandons common sense?
The use of replay review in sports is invariably a hot topic. It gets the calls right. Usually. It slows down the game. Always. In the end, for me, replay review doesn’t quite connect. In the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s NFL game, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold got blatantly...
Mark Madden: Penn State’s James Franklin acted, so who cares if he doesn’t say anything?
Knickers got twisted when Penn State football coach James Franklin did the hokey-pokey on and off the podium at his weekly news conference by way of declining to comment on two ex-Nittany Lions players charged with rape. A PR flack exchanged places with Franklin and recited a prepared statement. The...
Mark Madden: Penguins remain stuck in the past, too stubborn to see what they are
After the Pittsburgh Penguins lost at home to Carolina last Friday, coach Mike Sullivan and center Lars Eller bemoaned what they considered a subpar effort. There was nothing exceptionally wrong with the effort. The Penguins are slow. The Penguins aren’t slumping. They’re bad. You would have to be delusional not...
Mark Madden: Steelers, Mike Tomlin changed the game by letting Russ cook
It’s been so long since the Pittsburgh Steelers had a real quarterback, we forgot what one looked like. It’s been so long since the Steelers had a real offense, we forgot what that looked like. Justin Fields did OK deputizing. He went 4-2. He’s no Mike Kruczek, but you couldn’t...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: T.J. Watt’s value is undeniable, but the playoffs are proving ground
I occasionally go on Twitter/X and remind the citizens that T.J. Watt has never won a playoff game. That doesn’t mean he’s not one of the best defensive players of his generation. I just like watching the carp thrash after the bread. But Watt never winning a playoff game isn’t...
Mark Madden: Tristan Jarry’s struggles leave tough decisions for Penguins
One shot, one goal. Two shots, two goals. Five shots, three goals. (With the third goal coming 32 seconds after the Penguins had scored to cut their deficit to 2-1.) Pulling goalie Tristan Jarry after Buffalo’s third goal Wednesday was an easy decision. He looked lazy and disengaged. More significantly,...
Mark Madden: Playing Russell Wilson offers better solution to Steelers’ big-picture needs
The presumed quarterback switch from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson shouldn’t be judged by whether the Pittsburgh Steelers win Sunday night’s home game vs. the New York Jets. But it will be. Certainly, the Steelers need to win by way of avoiding descent into the NFL’s mushy middle. But there...
Mark Madden: Time for Steelers to ride with Russell Wilson
Justin Fields is good enough to beat Las Vegas because you can throw for just 145 yards and still do that. The Raiders stink. Can Fields, performing like he is, defeat the better teams coming up on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ schedule? Can Fields win AFC North games? Can he beat...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Trading for a high-priced receiver would be wasteful for Steelers
Anybody with half a brain and a remote sense of reality should shelve talk that the Pittsburgh Steelers should trade for Las Vegas wide receiver Davante Adams or any wideout that gets a big paycheck and would cost the Steelers significant draft capital in return. Be glad, too, that the...
Mark Madden: Steelers have themselves to blame for George Pickens situation
The Pittsburgh Steelers have a tradition of winning Super Bowls. It’s getting smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror. They also have a tradition of crackpot wide receivers. That custom is alive and well. George Pickens is at the front of that line. The Steelers have no legit gripe. They...
Mark Madden: Penguins might sneak into the playoffs, but don’t expect much more
The Pittsburgh Penguins will either just miss or just make the playoffs, just like the last two seasons. They will go an eighth straight year without winning a playoff series. That’s what happens when you keep bringing back basically the same team and same approach. The Penguins have slowed but...
Mark Madden: Justin Fields, Steelers’ offense are just not good enough
The Steelers are going nowhere. Their offense isn’t good. Their quarterback isn’t good. Their defense is very good but can’t always overcome the offense’s shortcomings. Sunday night’s 20-17 home loss to Dallas proved all of the above. The Steelers won the turnover battle, 3-0. (The fumble the Steelers lost trying...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Pirates watch as rival Reds improve by hiring New Brighton’s Terry Francona
The Pittsburgh Pirates added MLB’s best pitcher and another good hurler this season. Their best offensive talent was healthy after playing just nine games in 2023 because he didn’t know how to slide. (Probably still doesn’t.) Yet somehow the Pirates managed to finish with the same rotten record (76-86) as...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ highest-paid defense needs to win games
The Pittsburgh Steelers defense is following a familiar path this season: second-best in points conceded, fourth-best in yardage allowed but still not quite as good as it should be, or as good as its status as the NFL’s top-paid defensive unit dictates. Exhibit A: Last Sunday’s 27-24 loss at meh...
Mark Madden: Vasily Ponomarev, Harrison Brunicke offer Penguins a much needed youth movement
The Pittsburgh Penguins are an old team. Their stars are old. It depends on who makes the team, but the Penguins’ roster likely will have the NHL’s oldest average age. You can’t reach unrestricted free agency in the NHL unless you have seven years of service or are 27 years...
