The Pittsburgh Steelers and Mike Tomlin decided to retain Matt Canada as the offensive coordinator after a disastrous performance in 2022. Kenny Pickett seemingly endorsed Canada behind closed doors and expressed public support for him whenever his name came up. The embattled offensive coordinator kept his job, but there was no doubt that he was sitting on a powder keg.
Matt Freed / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin (right) and Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada (left) have a plan for 2023.
Steeler Nation was not remotely happy about the decision. Despite the run at the end of last season, fans were counting on the dismissal of Canada. It is hard to imagine a coach being more disliked than the Steelers' offensive coordinator. He had one year remaining on his contract, and the Steelers typically don’t pay coaches not to coach.
Did Steelers' Mike Tomlin Make A Critical Mistake By Resisting Change And Retaining Matt Canada?
It isn’t clear if Tomlin did not want to move on or if Art Rooney II stepped in and refused to allow it. Whichever version is true, the powder keg has exploded after one bad performance by Pickett. There is plenty of egg for Pickett, Tomlin, and Canada’s face to go around.
Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger
Steelers former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Spencer Te'o share a light moment on their podcast.
On Monday night, Ben Roethlisberger and his co-host Spencer Te’o returned to YouTube with episode 34 of Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger. The duo revealed they would return to last year’s schedule of trying to release an episode the day after the Steelers played a game. Roethlisberger has a habit of being passive-aggressive when he wants to make a particularly pointed criticism of someone. He didn’t turn over a new leaf in this episode.
“I remember with Coach Randy [Fichtner], we always had like a go-to play,” Roethlisberger began. “It’s just like man, I’m a little off today. Maybe it was going no-huddle where like I was calling plays that I felt comfortable with or like two or three plays that are just like a ball out of your hand. Maybe it’s a screen or where I throw a ball to a wide receiver, and he breaks a 10-yarder. Let your playmakers make plays.”
Roethlisberger has insinuated that fans did not give Randy Fichtner a fair shake. The Steelers offense averaged 26 points per game in 2020 under the previous coordinator and has slipped badly the last two seasons. 2023 did not start on a high note, with just seven points against the San Francisco 49ers.
“Like today, I thought Kenny was a little bit off,” Roethlisberger observed. “A little bit late, a little behind, whatever it is. At some point, it’s like, don’t keep trying to make the plays. Let your playmakers make the play. Sometimes, that can get you into a rhythm. I completed two, three, four in a row. Now you’re feeling it.”
The former Super Bowl champion has a critical point. There were games that he started slowly, only to find a rhythm and lead furious comebacks suddenly. His previous coordinators like Fichtner, Arians, and Todd Haley knew that if your plan is not working, you let your Hall of Fame quarterback get comfortable and improvise if necessary. Canada does not understand this thinking.
Charles LeClaire / USA TODAY Sports
Former Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger
Roethlisberger was often criticized in his final season for being unable to throw the ball down the field. The fact that he was behind the worst Steelers offensive line in the Super Bowl era was overlooked entirely. It is hard to say if he could throw the ball down the field because he rarely had the opportunity. The quick throws that he was making might have been his way to jump-start Canada’s offense in 2021.
“Sometimes if you’re not feeling it to have, you know, a seven-step drop, that’s not always the most high percentage,” Roethlisberger continued. “I always thought if I was calling it and doing it and my guy was a little bit off, I would do everything I could to get the ball out of his hand quickly into you’re playmaker's hands. That’s how I felt and liked when I was struggling.”
The Steelers offense does not generate many easy chances for Pickett. The wide receiver screens and quick slants that Roethlisberger threw repeatedly at the end of his career have disappeared from the offense and been replaced by jet sweeps and a lot of sideline hook routes that do not allow players like Diontae Johnson or George Pickens to run after the catch.
Justin K. Aller / Getty Images
Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett faced heavy pressure all game during the team's home opener against the San Francisco 49ers.
The big question is at this point, if the quick throws were just Roethlisberger ignoring Canada to get the offense moving, or if the offensive coordinator doesn’t want Pickett to run those plays. It is entirely possible that Roethlisberger made up plays in the huddle and ignored Canada. Pickett does not have his predecessors' ability or desire to improvise.
Canada has come under fire before for being too rigid. The future Hall of Fame quarterback more than insinuated that stubbornly sticking to a game plan when his quarterback was struggling instead of improvising easy plays was a mistake. Canada is fighting the perception that he is too arrogant. Leaving his second-year quarterback hanging out to dry by calling 46 passing plays when he was off schedule did absolutely nothing to dispel that notion. Roethlisberger could see it and called it out in his unique way.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Is Roethlisberger right about Canada not calling plays to help Picket find a rhythm? Please comment below or on my Twitter / X: @thebubbasq.
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