It's fair to say that a good chunk of Pittsburgh Steelers fans wanted offensive coordinator, Matt Canada to be fired following the 2022 season. His second full year as the play-caller was filled with lack of creativity and conservative play-calling. The fact that the offense barely turned the ball over and the organization finished the season going 7-2 was likely the reason that his job was spared by head coach, Mike Tomlin. He will have one more season to prove he is the guy to mold quarterback, Kenny Pickett going forward, or he is likely to be updating his resume.
Steelers offensive coordinator hangs out on the field at Acrisure Stadium before a 2022 regular season game against the Baltimore Ravens in Pittsburgh, PA. | Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (@JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
The offensive numbers were quite odd for Canada and co. in 2022. The group was in the top 10 in the NFL in plays run, but had the fewest passing touchdowns while scoring the sixth least amount of points in the league. It wasn't exactly a productive 17-game stretch. Despite some late game heroics from Pickett towards the end of the year, the offense was flat the majority of the time.
A Canada staple since taking over as the lead play-caller in 2021 has been running the ball on both first and second down. He said multiple times in 2022 that it was a good thing to get to third and manageable. Explosive plays would certainly be better, but we haven't seen his dedication to that.
The playbook will hopefully open up in Pickett's sophomore season. He has a whole offseason to study it and will get the majority of first team reps leading up to the new season. But, will the run-run-pass trend continue?
Steelers quarterback, Kenny Pickett (#8) and offensive coordinator, Matt Canada stand on the field together at Acrisure Stadium before the team takes on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a 2022 regular season game in Pittsburgh, PA. | Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (@JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
Arjun Menon, a data analyst for Pro Football Focus, tweeted on Sunday his advanced statistical analysis of how often teams followed the run-run-pass model in 2022. It should come as no surprise to Steelers fans that there wasn't another team in the AFC with a higher percentage. Pittsburgh came in at around 27% of the time.
How often every offense went run-run-pass on a new series of downs this season (including playoffs).
— Arjun Menon (@arjunmenon100) February 26, 2023
I'm really wondering how much of an influence McCarthy/Jones had on the Cowboys offense because they shouldn't be that high as Kellen Moore was a former QB pic.twitter.com/aLEy8Q8UUr
It is not really rocket science when it comes to Canada's play-calling. Certain players even indirectly called him out for his predictable offense in 2022. The best teams in the conference aren't using this style of play. A lot of this strategy could be contributed to Ben Roethlisberger's lack of arm strength in 2021 and Pickett's youth in 2022, but something has to change in his third season as the Steelers play-caller.
Steelers offensive coordinator, Matt Canada stares into the distance prior to a 2022 regular season game at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA. | Photo Credit: Joe Sargent / Getty Images
Steelers Must Be More Aggressive In 2023
Time is winding down for Canada to be an offensive coordinator in the NFL. A very uninteresting first two seasons have him on the hot seat and more predictable play-calling as he sticks to a run-run-pass approach will be a very good telling factor that he doesn't have what it takes to adjust at the professional level.
Are you surprised the Steelers led the AFC in run-run-pass sequences in 2022? Let us know in the comments below!
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