Category: Matt Canada

One year ago today, the Steelers offense changed forever

One year ago, the Steelers fired OC Matt Canada, starting a journey to rebuild their offense and achieve success under OC Arthur Smith.

One year ago today, fans of the Black and Gold danced in the streets of Pittsburgh, and excitement could be seen on the face of every member of the Steelers organization. On November 21, 2023, the Pittsburgh Steelers fired OC Matt Canada.

Under Canada’s 2023 offensive scheme, through his eleven games that season, the Steelers’ offense posted five games with 17 points or less. His last game as offensive coordinator came in Week 11, following a mere 10 points scored against the Cleveland Browns.

While it took some time, the Steelers would score 34 points against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 16 and 30 points against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 17.

While fans were forced to play the blame game between then-starting QB Kenny Pickett, backup QB Mitchell Trubisky, and former OC Matt Canada, the offense improved to 19.7 points per game without Canada calling the plays.

Ultimately, one year ago today marked the beginning of the journey to solving the Steelers’ offensive issues and resulted in an impressive offense led by OC Arthur Smith and QB Russell Wilson.

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Somewhere, Matt Canada is smiling after Steelers offensive struggles

You know he is.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers put up 400-plus yards over the Cincinnati Bengals, it certainly appeared like all was right with the world — even if they didn’t score north of 16 points. Many felt like the monkey was off Pittsburgh’s back after that game, and the offense was headed in the right direction.

To be in Matt Canada‘s shoes, watching or hearing about how the Steelers’ offense had their best game outside of his two-year coordinator tenure had to be gut-wrenching.

But it all came crashing down the following week against one of the worst teams in the NFL. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, the struggles continued into the following week — only this time on a national scale.

Somewhere, Matt Canada is smiling.

It wasn’t just him, as many fans were so quick to believe. Then what is it? Well… it’s everything. There’s not one aspect of the Steelers that you can point to and say it’s working, outside of maybe special teams.

What do the Steelers do? Unfortunately, nothing can be done at this point in the season — at least not where it truly matters as it relates to the offensive and defensive game plans. We knew that after Canada was fired, but we still held out hope.

Co-coordinators Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan are stuck with what they’ve got, but they’ve still failed to put successful spins on it.

Teryl Austin is calling a miserable defensive scheme, too, to allow the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots to march up and down the field at will.

And, finally, what’s to be said about Mike Tomlin? Other than he’s overstayed his welcome. There’s simply too much wrong with this team to say he’s not one of the biggest problems.

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Steelers considering giving OC Matt Canada a new view

Pittsburgh is looking to spark the offense by switching things up with Matt Canada.

According to Pittsburgh Steelers beat reporter Gerry Dulac, the Steelers are considering moving offensive coordinator Matt Canada to the sideline this week against the Tennessee Titans to see if it will help the offense. Canada typically operates from the coaches’ box.

The Steelers offense has struggled all season long, and a good chunk of the blame goes to Canada and his inability to game plan and make in-game adjustments. More than once opposing defenses have called out the Pittsburgh offense for being predictable and actually calling out their plays on the field.

Pittsburgh ranks near the bottom in both yards and points this season. But this isn’t a new phenomenon with Canada in charge. The Steelers currently hold the longest active streak in the NFL of games without 400 yards of offense, all of which has been under Canada’s watch.

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Diontae Johnson: Steelers ‘ain’t got no choice’ but to respect Matt Canada’s play-calling

It is what it is in Pittsburgh.

Another day, another crowd of Pittsburgh Steelers fans calling for the firing of offensive coordinator Matt Canada — this time out in Utah.

You won’t hear players buying into that nonsense, primarily because there are no other options. It is what it is in Pittsburgh.

“People might not agree with his play-calling, but you ain’t got no choice,” Diontae Johnson said on “The Arthur Moats Experience with Deke.” “He’s calling plays. He’s the boss on offense. We’ve got to do what he says, and we don’t have a choice. You don’t have to like them, but you got to respect them. That’s how I go. I respect them, not like them, too.”

Johnson does his best to keep the embattled offensive coordinator’s spirits up.

“It sucks to hear because it’s not like he’s intentionally trying to f— up. I just feel like it’s my job to be that person he can talk to about stuff like that.”

“When I see the OC, it’s like, I can’t do nothing but just go over there and talk to him about certain stuff. I try to take his mind off of stuff like that, like, ‘Bro, I’m on your side at the end of the day. Don’t listen to whatever they’re saying out there. They’re gonna say what they’re gonna say, but we’re gonna make you look good’… I’m just saying little stuff like that to him to just keep his spirits up so he don’t just be down.”

The offense has shown sparks but has yet to put together 60 minutes of consistency.

As is customary, the offense sputtered out of the gate in the Los Angeles Rams game. Their first drive resulted in a three-and-out, which set the tone for the first half. It wasn’t until the third quarter they finally put up a touchdown, and things got rolling from there.

Canada has been doing this long enough that it shouldn’t take chunks of games to find a rhythm. Find what works early and stick to it. Starting with the Jacksonville Jaguars might be a good idea.

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin says ‘starts don’t define us’ but they kinda do

Slow starts have become the personality of the Steelers team and that’s not a good thing.

This week the Pittsburgh Steelers are headed to the West Coast to take on the Los Angeles Rams and are hoping they can get off to a fast start against the Rams team who can put up lots of points. But if you believe head coach Mike Tomlin, he isn’t overly concerned about the slow starts that have literally become a hallmark of the Steelers under Tomlin.

In his pregame show, Tomlin told Bob Pompeani that “starts don’t define us” and noted how many games come down to the final minutes. Yes, that could be a product of the fact that because Pittsburgh’s starts are so slow, comebacks are all they have.

Fans obviously blame offensive coordinator Matt Canada for the Steelers struggles on offense at the beginning of games. It is easy to lump in a lack of heart and effort by the players as another cause for why Pittsburgh finds themselves always playing catchup in these games.

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More proof that everyone hates Steelers OC Matt Canada

Yet another “Fire Canada” chant at an unlikely spot.

In all my years on this planet and as a football fan, I’ve never witnessed the level of public vitriol that has been thrown at Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada this season. Steelers fans continue to find new and creative ways and locations to start up a “Fire Canada” chant. The latest is the campus of Ohio State during ESPN’s College Gameday.

You can hear as plain as day when the fans behind the announcers start up and it takes no time before the crowd joins in. You can bet plenty of those weren’t even Steelers fans but felt the need to support the cause.

The Steelers seem more than content to ride out the season with Canada in charge of the offense for the remainder of the season for better or worse. Right now the Steelers are ranked near the bottom of the league in most statistical categories with no relief in sight.

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Pittsburgh Steelers fans take ‘Fire Canada’ chant to the nation’s capital

Steelers fans were out in full force.

Pittsburgh Steelers fans have been relentless in their pursuit to get offensive coordinator Matt Canada fired. At this point, it’s just the trendy thing to do. It’s not having any real effect on his position with the team, and it won’t happen until January at the earliest.

“You’re not convincing Mike Tomlin of anything,” CBS Sports sideline reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala said this week on “The PM Team with Poni & Mueller.” “Mike Tomlin’s not changing his mind at this point.”

Fans know he’s not going anywhere, but neither are those two words. They took their case to the nation’s capital, where the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Washington Capitals on Friday.

As you’ll see in the comments section of Blitzburgh’s tweet, many are growing tired of the continuous calls for Canada’s job.

Ray Fittipaldo, Steelers beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, agrees. “It’s a little bit ridiculous,” Fittipaldo said. “It’s getting pretty out of hand.”

Kinkhabwala said the only people the constant egging is hurting is Canada’s family.

Perhaps his wife and kids should convince him to create better play designs for Kenny Pickett and his offense.

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5 pitiful stats that sum up the Steelers offense under Matt Canada

Here’s some numbers in case you don’t believe the Steelers offense is awful this season.

Talent or coaching? This is the great debate right now when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive futility. No matter what value you assign to either one, the results are the same. This offense stinks. If what you are seeing on the field isn’t enough to prove it, here are five stats where the Steelers are dead last in the NFL to help really drive the point home.

Fire Matt Canada crowd follows Steelers OC from the NFL to College GameDay

Matt Canada has nowhere to hide.

After the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 23-18 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, some fans lightened up on the Matt Canada leash ever so slightly. Many did not, including someone in the College GameDay crowd at Durham, N.C. for the Notre Dame-Duke game.

Blitzburgh grabbed a screenshot of the prominent sign in all its glory — it’s not just Fire Matt Canada — it’s Still Fire Matt [Canadian flag]. This guy isn’t being fooled by the 23 points the offense put up over a bad Vegas defense.

Pittsburgh’s offense is improving week-to-week, which is all one should expect at this point in the season. We should wait patiently, but it’s been as painful as watching the Steelers struggle can be.

Matt Canada called a solid game — against the 30th-ranked Raiders defense. Let’s see if he can make it two in a row with the 26th-ranked Texans. Better yet, maybe we should wait until the 7th-ranked Ravens come to Acrisure before we make any accurate assessment.

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin debunks Matt Canada report

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin had a succinct one-word response to Jordan Schultz’s report on Matt Canada.

The big news leading up to the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday Night Football showdown with the Las Vegas Raiders centered around everyone’s favorite offensive coordinator, Matt Canada. Early on Sunday, a report surfaced from NFL insider Jordan Schultz in which he revealed that the Steelers were moving Canada into a more “prominent role.”

Mike Tomlin didn’t hesitate to debunk the report at his press conference today when asked whether Canada’s role has changed.

“No.”

The relationship between Kenny Pickett and his offensive coordinator is on a natural path and not being forced. “[It’s growing] in a natural way… Whether it’s week-in and week-out this season or the totality of the two years that Kenny has been here.”

It doesn’t matter whether Schultz’s source fed him false information. What matters is how Pickett reacts in-game to the offensive plan. He took a step forward in Week 3 and must keep building on it if Pittsburgh expects to be a playoff contender in 2023.

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