Have The Steelers Been Naive About The Matt Canada Distraction Beyond 2023?

When the Pittsburgh Steelers announced that they would be bringing Offensive Coordinator, Matt Canada, back for the 2023 season, it came as a shock to most Steelers fan who watched the lackluster offense sputter through 2022. Now, four months later, it stands out even more as a glaringly bad decision made by the Steelers' front office (Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan, and Andy Weidl). As the franchise looks to the coming season with all the improvements and new toys that they acquired during a particularly productive offseason, the question that should be on everyone's mind is whether the Steelers have found themselves at the beginning of a vicious Canada cycle.

Steelers' Results Do Not Back The Call

For anyone carefully watching the choices made by the Steelers during this offseason, there would be two major takeaways. The first would be that the front office trio of Tomlin, Khan, and Weidl had a rock-solid plan that made moves based on real research and knowledge, and the second is that each choice subtly took Canada into account.

From the perspective of the players, the 2022 season was defined by willpower and the ability to overcome. If you looked at it from a strategy angle, though, it would be a confusing mess of tone-deaf plays and a distinct lack of flexibility. Rookie quarterback, Kenny Pickett, had a short leash that was at least partially influenced by Canada's refusal to allow Pickett the authority to call hot routes. The result was a passing offense that ranked 24th with 200.6 yards a game and a dismal 18.1 points per game (26th in the NFL) and despite a late-season improvement that saw the team go 7-2 after a painful 2-6 start, the success was due to the passion of the players on the field managing to play above the bad calls coming into the huddle.

At the beginning of the 2022 season, when the offense's struggles began to become more glaring and impossible to ignore, Canada did nothing to dissuade the doubters, instead relying on vanilla soundbites that only enhanced his lack of awareness, despite being at the center of the situation.

"This is going to be a tremendous offense."

Whether he was assuring everyone that this offense would excel or shrugging off the overwhelming evidence that some kind of change was needed, Canada verbally charged ahead in late October 2022 even though, at the time, the offense was floundering at 30th in yards per game and 31st in offensive scoring.

"I have a job that everybody talks about and I wouldn't want to have any other type, and I'm not happy with our production. I'm not happy with where we are, but I certainly believe in the course... If you change your message every week, if you do something different every week, you never get any better."

Steelers' Front Office Unable To Reassure Fan Base

Considering that the Steelers had previously moved on from offensive coordinators such as Ken Whisenhunt and Bruce Arians, the fact that somehow Canada had earned the team's trust seemed to be a choice without logic. Mike Tomlin was, of course, one of the first asked about the decision to retain Canada, and the moment was ripe for either a frustrated tirade or an unabashed backing of the coordinator, but Tomlin gave neither. Instead, as Mark Kaboly showed in his succinct tweet, the response almost told a story about a coach who wasn't really on board with the decision.

Art Rooney II was the one who put forth a more in-depth reasoning as to why they decided to keep the uninspiring coordinator. According to Joe Rutter of TribLive, Rooney said that the purpose of retaining Canada was to ensure Pickett had consistency through his first years.

The Steelers showed all the signs of a team with true potential at the end of the 2022 season - even more so now with the offseason additions - and Canada was the painfully obvious weak link in that equation, so to have a possibly damaging element welcomed back into the fold meant that the fans needed something more than what was given. Even though Rooney used more words than Tomlin, it still seemed like a weak reason.

"They seem to work well together. They built a good working relationship together. To start over with a new offensive coordinator, you could wind up back in the same situation again in the first half of the season"

Steelers Set Up For Canada Cycle

So, we know that the results and production - even the success - were not because of anything positive Canada did and that the players themselves were responsible for the surge that secured Tomlin's record of never having a losing season. It is also clear, if not outright, that the reasons for keeping Canada are flimsy at best and unacceptable at worst. Other than 2023, though, what could the fallout from this singular choice be for the future of the Steelers?

There is a very good chance that the only way the Steelers don't become saddled with a Canada issue for years to come is for the 2023 campaign to fall far short of expectations; a losing season, horrible offense, and backsliding. Why? Because the Steelers used continuity as the reason for bringing Canada back. 

If the team does succeed, the logical move based on the previous logic is to continue retaining Canada. The truth is that there is no good reason for Canada to still be a part of this team, and since consistency was the fuel behind the decision, it follows that success would mean the continuity worked - even if it was because of the players again - thus the smart choice would be to bring him back. You can see how the cycle could stretch into the future.

This is a brilliantly talented, deep football team that looks fully prepared for the challenges that 2023 will bring, but it is also the truth that all that talent will need to work fifty percent harder just to overcome the impact Canada will have. Is the team capable of overcoming Canada's calls? Yes, but is it worth the added toll? Is it worth asking that much more of the 53 men suiting up every week simply so the name "Canada" can be on an office door?

I will not hope for failure, even if it manifests Canada's release, but it's difficult to desire too much success either because at the back of every thought that has the Steelers succeeding in 2023 is the tone-deaf face of the offensive coordinator reminding all of us that he isn't up to the task. Here's hoping that the players aren't the only ones that will grow in 2023, because then maybe, just maybe, the front office will make the right call when it's back on the table.