Nothing has changed. The Pittsburgh Steelers offense is in the same spot that it was a few months ago, if not even worse. By now, everyone has become fed up with offensive coordinator Matt Canada, who is running the offense for a second consecutive season. Last season, the Steelers had one of the worst offenses in the NFL. Veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was seen as the main reason behind those struggles, as his age was clearly showing as the season went on.
Credit: Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
Now, there are no more excuses. The team has tried two different quarterbacks this season, Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett, neither of which have performed well. If you include Mason Rudolph's spot start against the Detroit Lions last season, that's now four quarterbacks that have started under Canada. None of them have done well, which begins to reflect back on the coach. On Tuesday, Canada addressed the continued offensive struggles via Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
"We've got to play better and whatever we have to do to do that, we cannot continue to make those mistakes that we've made and hurt ourselves," Canada said to the media on Tuesday. "We can't make the same mistakes over and over."
While some may not want to believe it, Canada is right in his assessment. He acknowledged that in the end, it ultimately is his responsibility for the unit to be better as a whole. The players themselves have done Canada no favors overall though. Pickett has went through the typical rookie struggles. Wide receiver Diontae Johnson has made more mistakes than normal.
Credit: Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
Perhaps the biggest issue has been the offense's penalties. Their 51 penalties through eight weeks are ninth-most in the NFL so far. They are tied for the league lead in unnecessary roughness penalties with five. They have an unusually high amount of "illegal man downfield" flags called, likely due to the ongoing confusion on offense. The offensive line has had several unnecessary pre-snap penalties over the last few weeks.
Overall, it hasn't been pretty. Before you get your hopes up, it was also reported that there will be no changes made to the coaching staff during the team's Week 9 bye. That means Canada will likely stick around until the end of the season, at minimum. Whether we like it or not, he was correct with these comments. The players have to play better at the end of the day.
What are your thoughts on Canada's comments? Who should be most at fault for the offense's high number of penalties lately? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comment section below, yinz!
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