It looks like the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to continue to have Matt Canada calling plays for them in 2023 despite warning signs that his offense doesn't work in the NFL. The former college coordinator took over play-calling duties in the last year of the legendary career of Ben Roethlisberger, and this season with a mix of Mitch Trubisky and rookie Kenny Pickett has scored 35 passing touchdowns total in his tenure.
In the first half of the season, the offensive players didn't seem to think much of him according to Mark Kaboly of The Athletic.
"They thought he was a bum the first half of the year," Kaboly said of what he was hearing from sources. "But then they came around a little bit, whatever was said and done at the bye, some of them were buying in. Once they started sticking with the plan, it started working so they gained a little bit of respect for him over the second half."
Source: "99.9% Matt Canada is back."
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) January 13, 2023
I'm gonna be sick.
The Steelers beat writer joined the PM Team With Poni & Mueller and he thinks Canada will get a chance to show the second-half surge wasn't just a blip. It also might not be the call of Mike Tomlin whether he stays or goes.
"I've always thought that he was coming back just for the fact that he had a decent second half of the season but you have to look at the tea leaves here," he said to the show's hosts in regard to the organization's history with coordinators. "They don't fire offensive coordinators, they just don't up their contracts."
Steelers' Kenny Pickett (#8) and offensive coordinator Matt Canada work on the game plan in preparation for the New Orleans Saints in Pittsburgh, PA. | Photo Credit: Abigail Dean/Pittsburgh Steelers
The organization has not fired an offensive coordinator since 2008 according to the veteran writer and with a combination of not being hamstrung by an almost 40-year-old in his first year and the improvement in the second half of the season, maybe Canada deserves another shot with a full season with Kenny Pickett.
"Maybe Tomlin feels obligated to give him another year because his first year was pretty much dictated by Ben (Roethlisberger) and what he could and couldn't do. And then this year he had a rookie quarterback and a bunch of young guys," Kaboly said.
With the Steelers coming just shy of the playoffs on a four-game winning streak and a pair of thrilling comebacks, perhaps the organization holds steady to try and move the ship forward with a young group in 2023 the insider mused.
"If you somehow get in, you win that Jets game which you should've and you're in the playoffs and playing your best ball, I think Tomlin truly believed they'd have gone to Buffalo and wouldn't have put a 42-7 burger up on the screen or anything like that the past couple years where they got whipped in the playoffs," Kaboly said. "I think he thought they had a chance right there and maybe that's why he's keeping people intact here because this is the entire coaching staff here."
Steelers Future Is Pickett Driven
Kenny Pickett sits in the pocket against the Baltimore Ravens / Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
The beat writer said he sees the talent in the Steelers' roster and it's all on the 20th overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft to deliver.
"If he can make that jump from year one to year two where he's winning games rather than trying not to lose them, that goes a long way," he said. "Then you still have (George) Pickens, Diontae (Johnson), Pat Freiermuth, Connor Heyward and (Jaylen)Warren to be able to put up the points but the question remains.Do you have the coordinator to put them in position? Will that coordinator help the young quarterback take the next step?"
Kenny Pickett speaks with offensive coordinator Matt Canada during training camp 2022 (Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation JSKO_PHOTO)
The writer's next advice to the Steelers sounded eerily similar to that of former starting Quarterback Kordell Stewart, who played under multiple coordinators in his career in Pittsburgh. What if the next guy doesn't work and Pickett is onto coordinator number three at age 27?
So, Steeler Nation, do you think Canada should be given another chance? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
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