: Kenny Pickett to undergo surgery on Monday for ankle injury

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Mark Madden: The Steelers will remain broken, in plain sight. That’s the new standard

The Steelers are never under much real pressure to fix their problems. Their failures hide in plain sight, aided and abetted by a dopey fan base that thinks playing “Renegade” is a strategy and a stooge media that allows accountability to be shirked.

For example, Kenny Pickett stinks. Anybody that doesn’t point-blank say that is sugar-coating.

Pickett is no work in progress. He’s rotten, and it’s in plain sight.

In 24 NFL starts, Pickett has thrown for multiple touchdowns once. For 300 yards or more once. He’s posted a passer rating of 100 or better once. He has left games injured four times. This season, Pickett has six touchdown passes in 12 games.

Pickett’s stats are inexcusably poor, he’s brittle, he plays scared, his accuracy reeks, and he’s regressing. He’s a first-round bust.

Pickett is out with an ankle injury, but who cares? Mitch Trubisky couldn’t be worse.

Mike Tomlin hasn’t been a good coach since losing the players (more important, the leaders) left by his predecessor, Bill Cowher. He’s guided talented teams to minimal achievement.

That’s in plain sight, too.

Trai Essex sees it. The ex-Steelers lineman won a Super Bowl playing for Tomlin. But after Sunday’s disastrous 24-10 home loss to 3-10 Arizona, Essex posted this on X/Twitter: “The non-competitive product we put on the field today is an indictment (of) Tomlin. That’s just being real.”

Consider the chaotic sidebars:

The Steelers drew three flags on special teams, all by Miles Killebrew, that unit’s captain. The Steelers were penalized twice for illegal formations. The Steelers had to burn a timeout because they had just 10 men on the field. The Steelers got cited for 12 men on the field. (That was immediately after a timeout.)

That doesn’t happen with well-coached teams. That’s not totally on Tomlin, just mostly. But he’s got a cheap, small coaching staff with unimpressive resumes.

The Steelers averaged 16.6 points per game when Matt Canada was offensive coordinator. They’ve averaged 13 points in the two games since Canada got fired.

After Sunday’s game, an Arizona player said, “Matt Canada was at the crib watching that game like, ‘I’m the problem, huh?’ ”

Yes, the Steelers were the butt of jokes in the locker room of one of the NFL’s worst teams.

But ESPN’s Stan Verrett was hyping Tomlin for NFL Coach of the Year on Sunday night’s “SportsCenter.” After that loss.

Diontae Johnson caught a touchdown with under five minutes to go in the fourth quarter to pull the Steelers within 14. Still hopeless.

Johnson’s celebration dance was a bit self-indulgent considering the Steelers were in the death rattle of a loss to a 3-10 team. But Johnson plays for himself, not the Steelers.

When Cowher’s leaders moved on, a new culture was founded. “Let my dawg dance.” Ego got prioritized over results. That’s been in plain sight since Antonio Brown. Tomlin became a grade-school teacher.

These Steelers have no leaders. Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt and a few others pretend. But these Steelers don’t play and look like a team that has legit in-house accountability.

Look at Watt after Sunday’s debacle. Watt, often victimized by uncalled holding, said “the NFL has something going against me.” I wonder if Watt thinks Aaron Rodgers really tore his Achilles tendon or if Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

The Steelers look bad more often than they look good. Their 7-5 record is because somebody has to win when bad teams meet.

Wait till the Steelers host pathetic New England. The 2-10 Patriots have lost their last three games by a cumulative 26-13. That’s 39 points total in 180 minutes of football. The final score Thursday might be 3-2.

If the College Football Playoff committee picked the NFL’s postseason participants, the Steelers would have no chance: Injured starting quarterback, don’t look the part. (But what if the Steelers do better without Pickett?)

Bad quarterback, bad coach, no leaders, no hope beyond a first-round playoff loss. (Bad center, too: Mason Cole snaps the ball as inaccurately as Pickett throws it.)

That’s not pessimistic. It’s honest.

Most NFL franchises in this predicament would be considering their future at quarterback and coach. But that’s not how the Steelers operate.

The Steelers will continue to, at best, never really accomplish much. The Steelers will remain broken.

In plain sight. Without much truth being told. That’s the new Steelers standard.