Mark Madden Columns category, Page 48
Mark Madden: Penguins captain Sidney Crosby’s return requires prudent lineup shuffling
Who should play with Sid? That ought to be a game show. Josh Getzoff could host. He’s got the look, and the rap. With Sidney Crosby’s return to action seemingly imminent, the Penguins lineup must be shuffled to accommodate. But not too much. The Penguins have the most points in...
Mark Madden: Having 2 starting goalies not a bad situation for Penguins
Tristan Jarry leads the NHL in all three significant goaltending categories. Matt Murray’s stats are his career worst in goals-against average and save percentage. Yet the story of the Penguins’ goaltending situation is far from written. Murray is playing better. He has won three of his last four starts. He...
Mark Madden: Kris Letang has been mostly brilliant for Penguins this season
Kris Letang is an elite defenseman. He finished sixth in the balloting for the NHL’s Norris Trophy (top defenseman) last season. Letang’s numbers for 2019-20 are strong: 10 goals, 18 assists and plus-7 in 35 games. His fancy stats are good, too: The Penguins have controlled the puck 54.9% of...
Mark Madden: Patriots dynasty is over unless Tom Brady returns with a couple star players
After nearly two full decades, the New England dynasty is over. (Probably.) That’s the good news. But the Pittsburgh Steelers never got a signature playoff win against that dynasty. That’s the bad news. That’s why Steelers fans shouldn’t gloat about New England’s elimination by Tennessee in Saturday’s wild-card playoff round...
Mark Madden: Randy Fichtner should not be Steelers’ sacrificial lamb
Before it started, the Steelers’ season had promise. Then Ben Roethlisberger got hurt. Then the Steelers were 1-4. Then they were 8-5. Then the Steelers collapsed and missed the playoffs. The 2019 campaign was very literally up and down, then up, then down again. Should you be disappointed the Steelers...
Mark Madden: Jake Guentzel’s injury is Penguins’ worst yetVideo
Of all the injuries suffered by the Pittsburgh Penguins in a campaign that resembles the Battle of Gettysburg more than any hockey season, Jake Guentzel’s might have hurt worst. The 25-year-old winger was following a career year with yet another career year. What will almost certainly be Guentzel’s last competitive...
Mark Madden: Horrific ‘Duck’ Hodges killed Steelers’ seasonVideo
The “Duck” era has concluded. Or should that be “Duck” error? Once it got to that point, the Steelers had no choice (or chance). The team’s season was dead the minute Ben Roethlisberger got hurt — and not just because they lost a two-time Super Bowl champion, a nailed-on Hall-of-Famer...
Mark Madden: All meaningful Week 17 NFL games should kick off at same time
Take down the Christmas decorations and put up refreshing sports notes! I got a lot of problems with you people, and you’re going to hear about it! • New Year’s Eve is JuJu Smith-Schuster’s favorite holiday: party for six hours, then drop a ball at midnight. (That joke was stolen...
Mark Madden: No reason to complain about Penguins at Christmas break
The Penguins started their Christmas break last Saturday. Unfortunately, they also played that night at Vancouver. What a dastardly performance in a 4-1 loss. But, as we await the Penguins’ re-emergence Friday at Nashville, fans of the team have little complaint. Despite being beset by a hailstorm of injuries, including...
Mark Madden: Put blame for Steelers woes on quarterbacks
For the second straight year, the Steelers seemed to be locked into a playoff berth late in the season. For the second straight year, they’re going to blow it. What went wrong? The most shocking development: The offensive line fluctuated between mediocre and terrible. Ramon Foster is washed up. Alejandro...
Mark Madden: Count on GM Jim Rutherford to get defensive depth the Penguins need
Mike Tomlin is a strong candidate for NFL Coach of the Year. But jabroni quarterback Duck Hodges throwing 38 times in a losing effort vs. Buffalo didn’t help. Neither did Hodges tossing four balls to the wrong team. OK, so the Bills had eight men in the box. Is the...
Mark Madden: Pirates signing catcher Luke Maile signifies rebranding, not rebuilding
The Pirates signed catcher Luke Maile. He hit .151 with Toronto last season. His career batting average is .198. Gee, how can you not get excited? The new Pirates management effectively has batted its eyes at the local stooge media, because we keep reading/hearing about Maile’s defensive acumen, particularly his...
Mark Madden: Steelers should go back to Mason Rudolph at quarterback
Every duck has his day. But for Devlin Hodges, his day is done. The Steelers should start Mason Rudolph in Sunday’s game at the New York Jets. Hodges caught lightning in a bottle. He won three games as a starter, one in relief. But when confronted by a good defense...
Mark Madden: Getting scratched, yelled at doesn’t qualify as ‘abuse’ in NHL
Hockey is a physical, grueling sport. Those who play it are tough. So why do they need a help line? NHL commissioner Gary Bettman recently instituted measures to curb coaching misconduct. Among those measures is a help line that current or former players can use anonymously to report abuse. No...
Mark Madden: Cheating Patriots should be banned from NFL playoffs
After Spygate in 2007, the New England Patriots lost a first-round draft pick. Coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000. The team was fined $250,000. That punishment was fair. But the Patriots kept cheating. The NFL’s discipline inexplicably got lesser. After Deflategate in 2015, quarterback Tom Brady was suspended four games,...
Mark Madden: Curious coaching decisions part of Steelers latest victory over Cardinals
Punch ’em in the beak, and put it on my bill! The Duck dynasty is upon us, and we’re quacking up! Hey, sports editor: Post these refreshing sports notes on the web. Beak, bill, quack, web, GET IT? I might be mallard-justed. Duck, you suckers! • Never mind Jordan Berry...
Mark Madden: There’s no goalie controversy; Matt Murray is the Penguins’ No. 1
The Penguins don’t have a goalie controversy. Not yet. Backup Tristan Jarry has played well: He’s 5-1 with a 1.86 goals-against average and .941 save percentage in his last six games. He made 28 saves as a Penguins team missing seven regular players blanked Stanley Cup champion St. Louis, 3-0,...
Mark Madden: Steelers QB ‘Duck’ Hodges is the man … for nowVideo
“Duck” Hodges is scripting an amazing tale. But it won’t be the great American novel. More like a short story. Hodges’ career is in its glory phase and denouement simultaneously. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ next four games plus any playoff contests (fingers crossed) likely will be the only time in Hodges’...
Mark Madden: Penguins need to ride out struggles with injury-depleted defense
Brian Dumoulin is out eight weeks after ankle surgery. Justin Schultz is sidelined by a lower-body injury. That leaves two big holes on defense. The Penguins also are decimated up front in the absences of Sidney Crosby, Nick Bjugstad and Bryan Rust. (Just when Rust got red-hot, too.) But the...
Mark Madden: Don’t crown Lamar Jackson, Ravens just yet
Are the Baltimore Ravens the NFL’s best team right now? Yes. Can they be the NFL’s best team on a frozen January day in Foxboro, Mass.? Maybe. New England is said to be “in trouble” despite a 10-1 record. At 43, quarterback Tom Brady might finally be fading, albeit in...
Mark Madden: Current Steelers-Browns rivalry doesn’t compare to battles in ’70s
For those imagining Sunday’s game between the Steelers and Cleveland will morph into a blood feud or race war on Heinz Field’s grass or in its adjacent parking lots, think again. The current fans and players are soft as puppy excrement compared to those competing and watching when Steelers vs....
Mark Madden: Steelers must hope defense makes QB pick insignificant
Mike Tomlin has not committed to a starting quarterback for this week’s home game against Cleveland. Mason Rudolph stunk out the joint before being pulled in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 16-10 win Sunday at Cincinnati. Devlin Hodges wasn’t much better, manufacturing a big play thanks to a James Washington stiff-arm, not...
Mark Madden: Myles Garrett’s unproven racism accusation will follow Steelers QB Mason Rudolph forever
Cleveland’s Myles Garrett accused the Steelers’ Mason Rudolph of using a racial slur in the moments preceding Garrett swinging Rudolph’s helmet at Rudolph’s head. Garrett’s indefinite suspension nonetheless was upheld. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league investigated Garrett’s claim and “found no such evidence” it’s true. But that doesn’t...
Mark Madden: Penguins can’t get out of their own way
The Pittsburgh Penguins have played terrific. Structurally and fundamentally, they’ve been at their best since the 2016 and ’17 Stanley Cup seasons. Their defense and penalty-kill are top-notch. Their speed and energy are high. They are 11-7-3 and hold the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot despite a crippling slew of...
Mark Madden: A tale of two quarterbacks, using that term loosely
A tale of two quarterbacks (if I may use that term loosely): • Mason Rudolph should have been suspended for one game after that melee at Cleveland on Thursday. I am not outraged by Rudolph being merely fined, and I agree with the other discipline handed down. But Rudolph started...
