Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin Seemed Incredibly Surprised About 1 Thing Matt Canada Orchestrated Against The Falcons

The Pittsburgh Steelers will need to carry a very successful 2023 preseason offense over to the games that matter if Matt Canada wants to remain in the Steel City. The play-caller is one of the least favorite coaches in the entire city across all sports landscapes. The unit was in the bottom half of the league in many categories in 2022 including touchdown passes, points and touchdowns as a whole. The 2023 preseason has displayed a different animal. The starting group has scored five touchdowns in five possessions. This has led to an incredible amount of hope for the fan base.

Pittsburgh's offense has really struggled to make big plays and get chunk yardage in Canada's tenure. There have not been a ton of touchdown drives early in games and defenses seem to have a great handle on what the Steelers are going to do offensively since 2021. The 2023 preseason has temporarily saved Canada a ton of ridicule after the first team proved to be wildly efficient.

The Steelers defeated the Falcons, 24-0, on Thursday evening and Pittsburgh could not have finished the exhibition period on a better note. The offense dominated early and the defense was a force for the whole night. Atlanta wasn't playing any starters, but Tomlin's team has shown significant consistency all preseason and that is something to be impressed about.

While Canada has proven throughout the 2023 preseason that the Steelers may have something brewing on offense, the real test will be once the regular season kicks off. It was an awful start to the 2022 campaign for Pittsburgh's offense. The bye week may have saved Tomlin's non-losing season streak as the team finished off extremely strong in the latter half of the year.

Steelers' Tomlin Complimentary Of Offense's First Drive Against The Falcons

Tomlin addressed the media after the victory over the Falcons on Thursday night and, as usual, was asked many questions about his team's performance. Before he fields inquiries from reporters, however, he gives a briefing relative to his thoughts. He specifically noted the penalty that the special teams group was flagged for to begin the game, as the Steelers would have the first offensive possession.

"Penalty on the opening kickoff man. Starting on the long field is difficult," Tomlin said.

It was a long way to find the end zone, but that didn't matter for Kenny Pickett and co. A 92-yard drive ended up in a Najee Harris touchdown. Tomlin's analysis of the drive shouldn't necessarily be encouraging to Canada, however. It's hard for any NFL team to score with that much field to cover, but the Steelers head coach didn't give off the vibe that he has the utmost confidence in his offensive coordinator.

"Appreciate the offense, uh, going down and scoring. That usually doesn't happen. Things of that nature."

Let's not get it twisted; 92-yard drives aren't a regularity. That doesn't mean, however, the best offenses in the league don't expect to score every time they get on the field, regardless of where the drive begins.

Tomlin is one of the main decision-makers in the entire Steelers organization. He wanted to keep Canada for at least another year and 2023 will be an important year for the play-caller's career in the NFL. It may be a small gripe, but Tomlin acting as if 92-yard touchdown drives are unheard of just proves that he doesn't have a lot of memories experiencing them over the last few years. Pittsburgh is in a position to breakout in 2023 and Canada may be the individual that makes the difference, one way or another.

Do you think that Canada can prove the entire city of Pittsburgh wrong in 2023? Let us know in the comments below or comment on Twitter / X @SNParker_.

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