Madden Monday: 'There is no trade to be made to fix the Penguins.’ Steelers surprise star.

It’s the day after a Steelers home game, so, obviously, Mark Madden and I are talking about their 28-21 win over the Houston Texans to begin our “Madden Monday” podcast.

But we dive deep into the Penguins and Pirates as well.

There were lots of standouts for the Steelers on Sunday. James Conner totaled 109 yards on the ground. Mike Hilton had a huge interception. T.J. Watt clearly won the “Watt Brothers Battle.” And Eric Ebron scored his first touchdown as a Steeler.

Not to mention Ben Roethlisberger and his 101.3 passer rating.

But Madden has a different star of the game — offensive tackle Chuks Okorafor.

“He made J.J. Watt disappear,” Madden said. “He put him in his back pocket. Now if that means J.J. Watt is over the hill — I’m not dismissing that. But Chuks put J.J. Watt — the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year — on a milk carton.”

Watt ended up with four tackles, just one solo. And nothing behind the line of scrimmage.

Now, we have to keep in mind that the Steelers’ 3-0 record has been amassed against a list of opponents that is collectively 0-9. So what can be expected next week in Nashville when the Black and Gold visit the Tennessee Titans?

“I see next week’s game as kind of an informal playoff — however temporary — for the third best playoff team in the AFC,” Madden said. “Whoever jumps out to 4-0 can lay claim to that.

“The Tennessee offense is going to present them a challenge they have never seen before. Houston and Deshaun Watson are haphazard. Tennessee and (quarterback) Ryan Tannehill, they are not.”

The two best teams in the AFC? That’s easy. It’s the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs. And those two teams play each other Monday night. Mark and I are both picking the Ravens. We give you our reasons.

On the Penguins front, Madden backs the Patric Hornqvist trade much more than I do. I don’t like it because I don’t think the Penguins have anybody in the system to properly replace Hornqvist. Madden doesn’t think replacing Hornqvist should be that big of a concern, and he explains why.

I’d be willing to embrace the deal more if it ended up creating more salary cap room for a signing or another trade that makes the Penguins better. But this deal with the Panthers for Mike Matheson and Colton Sceviour actually costs the Penguins more than half a million dollars in space.

Madden isn’t coming from the same place.

“There is no trade to be made to fix the Penguins and keep them legitimate Stanley Cup contenders,” Madden said. “They are in the decline that was inevitable. It’s organic. It can’t be stopped.”

Madden and I also talk about this lost 2020 season for the Pittsburgh Pirates. What a disaster it was. They finish the coronavirus-adjusted season with a ghastly 19-41 record. That was the worst record in baseball.

Madden tells us why you shouldn’t expect much better next year and what he thinks Vanderbilt pitcher Kumar Rocker should do if the Pirates draft him with the first overall pick.

Listen: Tim Benz and Mark Madden discuss Steelers win over Texans, Penguins trade and Pirates season