Madden Monday: Reflecting on Steelers in 2022 — ‘I just don’t see it as a successful season’
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The Pittsburgh Steelers ended the 2022 regular season in what has become very routine territory for them of late. At 9-8, they are .500-ish. This year that’s not good enough to make the playoffs. Last year 9-7-1 was barely good enough to qualify.
All too familiar is the fact that this will be the sixth consecutive year without a playoff win and the 10th year in the past 12 without a postseason victory.
So even though the Steelers managed to rally from a 2-6 start to put themselves into the wild-card race until the final Sunday, some in Western Pennsylvania are unimpressed with the fact that the franchise managed to avoid a losing season for an 19th consecutive year.
Mark Madden of TribLIVE and 105.9 The X is one of those people.
“I just don’t see it as a successful season,” Madden said in this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast. “I see it as a season that they didn’t make the playoffs. I see it as a season where they think their rookie quarterback played really well but did not. He is near the bottom of the league in almost every statistic. He threw seven touchdowns in 13 games in a league where that’s just not how it works.”
Madden did say that the Steelers made some progress on the defensive side of the ball. But he questions how sustainable it is for 2023.
“I do think the defense made some legitimate strides. But I do think the defense has some legitimate holes moving forward and a lot of free agency to deal with,” Madden said.
More Steelers
• Feats of Strength: Some individual applause for beating Browns, but big picture grievances as Steelers miss playoffs
• First Call: Steelers get top pick in second round; Watt brothers honor J.J.; Bengals mock NFL’s coin-flip idea
• Steelers relish keeping streak of non-losing seasons alive for Mike Tomlin
Larry Ogunjobi, Devin Bush, Cameron Sutton, Tyson Alualu, Terrell Edmunds, Robert Spillane, Damontae Kazee, Chris Wormley, Malik Reed, Jamir Jones and James Pierre are all regular defensive contributors playing on expiring contracts. That doesn’t include the likes of Ahkello Witherspoon, Myles Jack, Arthur Maulet, William Jackson and Levi Wallace, who are on the books through 2024. But do the Steelers want to cut any of those players to make room under the salary cap?
Then there is outside linebacker Alex Highsmith, who may be in line for a big extension before he goes into the final year of his deal.
So the Steelers are in a place where they need to decide if they want to shake things up or keep together a roster that has been a part of a drought that has extended to six years now without a playoff win.
Madden suggested the fanbase and media that cover the team are going soft in their analysis and expectation of what the team should be.
“When we analyze what the Steelers have done, we just ignore the bad to be able to emphasize the good. I keep seeing how great it was that Mike Tomlin rallied this team from 2-6 to 9-8. … But does that mean he is absolved from blame for coaching the team to a 2-6 start?” Madden asked.
Also in the podcast, Madden and I talk about the NFL’s playoff scheduling decision to adjust for last week’s canceled “Monday Night Football” game. We get into the playoff bracket for both conferences. And we analyze some recent struggles for the Penguins as well.