The Pittsburgh Steelers offensive approach has been hard to understand since Matt Canada was promoted to be the play-caller after the 2020 season. The unit has consistently been ranked in the bottom half of the league in several categories and have yet to score more than 20 points in a game this season. Many have wondered why head coach, Mike Tomlin didn't fire the play-caller heading into the bye week, but after not doing so, it appears he will be around for at least the remainder of the year. A constant topic has been whether the team's quarterbacks have the ability and permission to change plays at the line of scrimmage via audible.
Steelers quarterbacks Kenny Pickett (#8) and Mitch Trubisky (#10) at Acrisure Stadium before a 2022 preseason game. | Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Former starting quarterback and veteran, Mitch Trubisky said earlier in the season that he didn't necessarily have the option to audible. As a sixth-year veteran, he would absolutely know if he had the ability to do so or not.
Mitch Trubisky said he doesn't have the freedom to call audibles on every play in Matt Canada's offense. "We're still figuring out when it’s a good time for me to audible," he said. Trubisky is a six-year veteran, right?
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) September 20, 2022
That was then backtracked after Kenny Pickett took the starting job. Offensive lineman, James Daniels was quoted saying that the rookie can do as he pleases when he is under center:
"“He [Pickett] does have the ability to change anything, and if he doesn’t like a play call, he can change it,” Daniels said according to John Rowntree of 93.7 The Fan's tweet. “He can do what he wants.”
So, which one is it? Well, Canada was most recently asked about the freedom his signal-caller has as the line of scrimmage and his answer surely tip-toed around the key word: audible. Rather, Pickett has the opportunity to 'check.'
"I think that question has come up. Audibles and checks, we have obviously had checks in our offense forever. There's times he goes up there and has to check, run-to-run, pass-to-pass, based on look, based on technique."
Steelers' Kenny Pickett (#8) and offensive coordinator Matt Canada work on the game plan in preparation for the New Orleans Saints in Pittsburgh, PA. | Credit: Abigail Dean/Pittsburgh Steelers
Essentially what Canada is saying is that Pickett has designed checks based on the play called in the huddle. If he sees something unusual, he changes the play using a word or phrase so that the offense can adjust accordingly. An audible, on the other hand, would be the quarterback acknowledging that the play call is a complete dud and it needs to be a completely different play if success is to come of it.
Canada continued answering the question about audibles, but got completely sidetracked, ignoring the nature of what was asked:
"Certainly, we're going to try and streamline everything we can for all of our players to get them to play fast and simplify things the best way we can until we can continue to grow and be more diverse, creative. But, that's not just Kenny. We talked about being on the same page. We just have to kind of continue to grow and get the right thing at the right time."
Steelers' Kenny Pickett warms up for his first ever NFL action against the Seattle Seahawks on Aug. 13, 2022 at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA. | Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (@JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
That pretty much sounds like Canada doesn't trust his young and inexperienced offense enough to give Pickett the freedom to completely change the play at the line of scrimmage. The play-caller up in the booth is handcuffing his group in a sense. There have been very few play designs that have wow'ed Steelers fans this season and that is likely to continue. Is Canada lacking trust in his offensive personnel? Or is he so nervous about his job security that he doesn't want anyone else to screw it up other than himself?
Do you think Canada is right to restrict his rookie quarterback from calling audibles after the offensive group breaks the huddle? Let us know in the comments below!
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