Steelers All-Pro Chad Brown Hints Mike Tomlin Should Feel The Heat If There Is No Offensive Improvement

Pittsburgh Steelers fans who watched the team play for over two decades between Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger have seen truly horrid quarterbacks take snaps for the black and gold. The quarterback play was so bad that a case could be made that Tommy Maddox was the best quarterback for the Steelers between the two Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks for Pittsburgh. Maddox engineered one of the most thrilling playoff victories in the franchise's history against the Cleveland Browns.

Chad Brown, who played with Neil O’Donnell and Kordell Stewart, arguably the two best quarterbacks behind Maddox during the last Super Bowl drought, joined The Cook & Joe Show on Wednesday. Brown played for the Steelers from 1993 to 1996 and is one of the few players who left Pittsburgh and enjoyed success in free agency. Brown went to two Pro Bowls with the Seattle Seahawks and was an All-Pro in 1998. 

Brown joined Ron Cook and Joe Starkey to discuss the Steelers' surprising decision to fire Matt Canada. It wasn’t surprising so much that either Mike Tomlin or Art Rooney II, depending on which report you believe, decided to move on from the offensive coordinator. It is when they decided to do it. Starkey asked Brown what the repercussions for the offense could be.

“Hopefully, they move from a team that’s hoping and wishing they could score touchdowns to a team that actually can score touchdowns,” Brown answered. “It’s more than just Matt Canada. Matt Canada was clearly not the guy, so I’m glad to see that Mike Tomlin or Art Rooney or whoever made that call, the Steelers season can now move forward.”

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There is an old saying in professional sports, “You can’t fire all the players.” Brown is correct that the Steelers have a bigger problem than their offensive coordinator. Roethlisberger was ripped last season when he suggested that some younger players on the team were not team-oriented. Najee Harris echoed those sentiments in his postgame rant after the 13-10 loss to the Browns.

Canada has shouldered the brunt of the blame for everything wrong with Pittsburgh over the last two and a half seasons. He won’t be coaching against the Cincinnati Bengals. Brown elaborated on some familiar targets who would now find themselves directly in the crosshairs.

“I was looking at the quarterback power rankings this morning in anticipation of this call,” Brown continued. “It’s hard to find anybody that’s got Kenny Pickett any further north than 24 or 25th in the league as far as quarterbacks. Is there a path forward for this guy? I think so, but at some point, the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to feel they can’t continue to be held back by Kenny Pickett. It’s a microwave league. Kenny Pickett is playing for his job with the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

Kenny Pickett is squarely in the line of fire. In recent weeks, fans have started to turn their vitriol for Canada onto Pickett. The 13-10 debacle against the Browns in Week 11 was his worst start as a professional. It is hard to envision it worsening and him keeping his starting job. Mitch Trubisky is not the answer. With all due respect to Mason Rudolph stans, like Mark Kaboly, Rudolph has a better shot of starting for the Pittsburgh Maulers than the Steelers. 

Teryl Austin is not blameless in this equation. The money that the Steelers spend on defense could be better spent. Austin and Tomlin, who has his hands all over the defense, decided not to pressure a rookie quarterback making his second NFL start. Taking a page from Canada's book, they got cute. They fooled Dorian Thompson-Robinson by not pressuring him and letting him get comfortable. A tactic that Brown questioned. 

“I was a part of the Blitzburgh defense. We did what our name said,” Brown retorted. “We wanted to overwhelm any young quarterback we played. Dick LeBeau and Dom Capers were not like, 'Let's confuse him.' No, we wanted to take away any confidence that they had. We wanted them to know what they were going to be in for all game long. Hopefully, have them give us the football. I expect the Pittsburgh defense to get after this young quarterback from the Cincinnati Bengals.”

The Browns were prepared for the Steelers to rush four players and play coverage. Kevin Stefanski ensured that Alex Highsmith and TJ Watt did not have the opportunity to win the game for the Steelers. The former All-Pro linebacker who played in one of the most exotic versions of the Pittsburgh defense is right to point out that the only fools in Cleveland in Week 11 were the defensive coaching staff that thought it was a good idea to let a rookie quarterback get comfortable. 

Cook reminded Brown that the Steelers had not won a playoff game since 2016. The veteran Pittsburgh Post Gazette writer asked the former Steelers linebacker if he thought Tomlin's seat would get a little warmer over the next seven games and face some real jeopardy of losing his position. The former AFC champion was blunt. 

"I think this obviously lends itself in that direction," Brown concluded. "You removed the 'problem' in Matt Canada. It's up to Kenny Pickett and Mike Tomlin to move this offense forward. If it does not, now the pressure's gotta go to somebody. We got one guy out of the building, who we thought was the problem. Now, we are going to see who is potentially the problem and who is the solution. Mike Tomlin can be put into that problem category if this offense does not move forward. Mike Tomlin will deserve increased scrutiny and pressure."

Brown was part of the Super Bowl XXX loss that haunts Steeler Nation to this day. He saw firsthand that average quarterback play was good enough to get them to the Super Bowl, but it wasn't enough to win. The Steelers have sunk to the point that an AFC Wild Card victory would be cause for celebration. It directly reflects on the head coach, who claims to have decided to fire Canada to right the ship. 

The real question is, why did you hire him in the first place? More importantly, why, if he decided to let him go, did you retain him for 2023? Is the year left on the contract the reason? Is it because he gave his son a scholarship? It sure as heck was not the continuity story that Rooney and Tomlin put out in the 2023 offseason. The only thing that might continue is Tomlin's coaching career in another city if there is no immediate improvement. 

Tomlin is a player's coach who may have lost his locker room by retaining Canada. He was great at winning press conferences, but his recent exasperation with the press has raised serious questions about that trait. Andy Reid moved on from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Kansas City Chiefs, and both are better for it. It can be a happy ending for both parties. If the Steelers stumble down the stretch, it might finally be time to start looking for the exit. 

What do you think, Steeler Nation? Has the decision to hire and retain Canada painted Tomlin into a corner from which only Pickett can rescue him? Please comment below or on my Twitter/X: @thebubbasq. 

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