New Comments Insinuate Steelers' Mike Tomlin Had Huge Say In Awful Matt Canada Offense

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been held back on the offensive side of the ball since the 2021 offseason when Matt Canada was promoted to be the team's new play-caller. He held the position of quarterbacks coach for one season prior to being promoted. He almost lasted a full three years, despite terrible results. The franchise moved on from him with a rare in-season firing during the second half of the 2023 campaign. Head Coach Mike Tomlin didn't play around with his non-interim replacement, as former Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Arthur Smith was brought in to get the unit finally going in the right direction.

Prior to Canada, Randy Fichtner didn't exactly get the job done, either. This leads one to believe that there could have been a little more going on for the offense and an NFL insider brought interesting information to light on Wednesday. Tomlin can't escape free of criticism after a terrible stretch on offense since the 2021 season began; in fact, he could be the most to blame.

James Palmer joined Kay Adams on the Up & Adams Show on Wednesday, the host in Adams asked Palmer, of NFL Network, about the Steelers' quarterback situation. The most interesting part of his remarks came when he said that he has heard that Smith is truly the one running the show, compared to it maybe being somebody else in the play-caller's ear.

"I'm curious because Arthur Smith, in what we've been told, has a larger voice in that building than previous offensive coordinators," Palmer said.

One may wonder who else could be pulling the strings besides any offensive coordinator that Tomlin has hired, and while Palmer didn't say it, it's easy to connect the dots that Tomlin wanted some control over the offense. It's safe to say that the head coach may have realized that he should focus on what he knows best, which is the defensive side.

Palmer continued with his analysis and it will certainly be interesting to see what Tomlin decides to do if Smith is more in favor of Justin Fields being first on the depth chart compared to the veteran in Russell Wilson. The big question will be if the two can remain on the same page when it comes to who is leading the offense on a consistent basis.

"Who does Arthur like more and who does Arthur think gives his offense the best chance to succeed? How does Mike Tomlin listen to that and how much is Mike Tomlin in agreement with that they make a change?"

Regardless, the Steelers should be better off in 2024 all around when it comes to the offense. The quarterbacks seem to have more potential and Smith was a phenomenal offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans in 2019 and 2020. The unit will likely rely on the ground-and-pound game, which could lead to Wilson making less mistakes. 

Steelers' Tomlin Giving Smith More Say Proves What Fans Knew All Along

Todd Haley was the last offensive coordinator to truly know what it takes to consistently succeed while calling plays in an NFL offense prior to being hired in Pittsburgh. The debacles that were Fichtner and Canada will forever be things that held the organization back. Essentially, since the 2018 season began, the Steelers haven't had a proven play-caller running the show. 

The hope is that Tomlin swallows a little bit of pride and trusts Smith to run a respectable NFL offense. It's hard to believe the group can regress after over several years of mediocrity.

Do you think that Tomlin had more of a say in recent offenses than everyone previously thought? Let us know in the comments below!

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