The Steelers haven’t finished under .500 since Mike Tomlin took over as the head coach in 2007. In fact, they’ve been at or above the break-even mark every year since the start of 2004. In that time, though, they’ve had four 8-8 seasons — three under Tomlin (2012, ‘13, ‘19), one under Bill Cowher (2006). Tomlin also squeezed out a 9-6-1 record (2018) and a 9-7 mark (2009).
So now that the NFL is likely to incorporate a 17-game schedule who wants to bet on an 8-8-1 finish just so Tomlin can keep that streak alive?
I’m in!
Too pessimistic? Not according to TribLive columnist and 105.9 The X host Mark Madden.
“I’ve got a feeling by the time it’s all over, they will be begging for a chance at 8-8-1,” Madden said during this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast.
The Steelers were already slated to have the toughest schedule in football for the original 16-game slate. Now they’ll probably have the Seattle Seahawks added to the calendar as the 17th game.
So, no easy task.
As for the Penguins, they have made life easier on themselves with their recent hot play, including a 6-3 win over the New York Islanders Saturday. The Penguins now have 46 points in the East Division, currently 10 better than the team in fifth place, the Philadelphia Flyers.
That’s good for third place, seven better than the fourth-place Boston Bruins. They are two below the second-place New York Islanders and four off the pace set by the division-leading Washington Capitals.
“I don’t think the Penguins will drop out of the playoffs,” Madden said. “They’ve played well enough and done enough … If they go .500 the rest of the way, they’ll make the playoffs. If there is any team within the top four that will be in trouble, it’ll be Boston. I never dreamed that’d be the case. But they just can’t score.”
Underscoring that point, the Bruins lost to New Jersey 1-0 Sunday. The Bruins are 22nd in the NHL at 2.61 goals per game.
That said, things aren’t perfect. They still could use some forward depth, given all of their injuries up front. But who do they trade to pry a valuable third- or fourth-line forward off another team’s roster? Especially since the Penguins have such little draft-pick or prospect capital to deal.
Defenseman Marcus Pettersson’s name has been dangled out as a possibility.
“I don’t want to get a rental for Pettersson. I want to get a guy who can play now who is affordable that is signed past this year. Otherwise, I want a prospect and/or a pick when I trade Pettersson this offseason,” Madden said.
Mark and I also talk about the warts impacting other teams in the division, Tyson Alualu’s return to the Steelers, and Todd Frazier’s departure from the Pirates.
All that, plus another Mark Madden movie review. And we ask Mark if he has any comparisons to Tim Peel’s hot mic moment in the NHL.
