Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have actually given struggling offensive coordinator Matt Canada MORE to do — and fans are losing their minds.
How could the Pittsburgh Steelers possibly make the Matt Canada situation any worse? Double down on his duties and add working more closely with quarterback Kenny Pickett on the daily. It makes sense, right? No, I didn’t think so.
Steelers Nation took to X to vent their frustrations.
Could the Steelers really give Matt Canada more to do with the offense?
While most of the Pittsburgh Steelers fanbase wants to see offensive coordinator Matt Canada gone, the team has other plans. According to NFL reporter Jordan Schultz, the team plans to expand Canada’s responsibilities and is giving him a larger role in working with second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett.
According to Schultz, this will be in addition to Canada’s playcalling duties. Let that one sink in for a minute. The guy in charge of the worst offense in the NFL right now is going to be given more responsibilities including a more close working relationship with the team’s struggling franchise quarterback.
Sources: The #Steelers are moving
OC Matt Canada to a more prominent role working with QB Kenny Pickett.Canada will continue calling plays, but will also be working directly with Pickett on a daily basis.
The 51-year-old was hired in 2020 as QBs coach, and then promoted to… pic.twitter.com/5eWIQI4T6P
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) September 24, 2023
This news comes just a week after the team heard a packed Acrisure Stadium chant “fire Canada” as the offense was only able to muster six points against the Cleveland Browns. We really hope this report isn’t true because if it isn’t, this season might be over before it starts.
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Everyone is on the fire Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada bandwagon, even the Breaking Bad star.
Everyone is on the I-hate-Matt-Canada bandwagon — even Hank Schrader. Pittsburgh Steelers fan Mitch, a.k.a. @sadsteelersfan7 on TikTok, apparently paid Schrader’s portrayer, Dean Norris, to relay something … offensive … to the offensive coordinator.
“He needs you to get the f— out of Pittsburgh,” Dean conveyed on TikTok. “Mitch says the Pittsburgh Steelers need to fire Matt Canada. Mitch also says that you ride Mike Tomlin’s nuts, and you call terrible plays on the offense. Mitch got a bone to pick with you, Matt, and I hope this works out between you guys.”
Norris said he wouldn’t say it himself because he and Canada share a “balding guys” bond.
A #Steelers fan paid Hank from Breaking Bad to tell OC Matt Canada to “get the f—k out of Pittsburgh”
There’s actually no way 😂
(H/T: @matthewluciow92) pic.twitter.com/10P2C9AMFO
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) September 22, 2023
The Matt Canada situation has never been good, and it’s only gotten worse. The Steelers are last in the league in several critical categories, including points per game (8), yards per drive (19.6) and points per minute of possession (0.4).
Steelers Nation is in agreement that Canada needs to be sent packing. But he was just given a one-year contract extension in January, and the franchise has never fired a coach in-season, so it’s not likely he’s going anywhere until then.
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Any one of these guys would be a massive upgrade over Pittsburgh Steelers OC Matt Canada.
Let’s face it, we’re all living in a dream world to think anyone but Matt Canada will be designing offensive plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season. But since dreams do occasionally come true, here’s a look at potential candidates.
The Pittsburgh Steelers OC spoke publicly for the first time since the “Fire Canada” chants broke out on Monday Night Football.
It’s not going out on a limb to say that offensive coordinator Matt Canada is the most disliked member of the Pittsburgh Steelers right now — and that’s putting it mildly.
Fans are fed up after two abysmal outings from his offense, predictable from the time he took over for Randy Fichtner. So much so that a “Fire Canada” chant broke out at Acrisure Stadium on Monday night.
“I’ve been made aware of it,” Canada told Steelers media on Thursday before deflecting the topic to his players. “There’s not one ounce of lack of confidence in the players that I have or a lack of confidence in the coaches that I have. We’re gonna play better. We’re gonna get it right. We’re not putting it on the field that we expected to do in those first two games.”
Canada had a similar response after the Steelers’ embarrassing Week 1 loss to the San Fransisco 49ers. And yet, nothing changed.
“The fans want us to win, they want us to play better,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with their passion. Mike T. says it all the time, we are not running away from it. We expect to be better. We will be better. I firmly believe that.”
Canada is drinking his own Kool-Aid if he genuinely believes the offense did a good enough job Monday night to win. “Our defense did a great job, special teams did a great job. The offense did a good enough job in certain plays to us a win.”
Matt Canada says he was “made aware” of the Fire Canada chant at Acrisure Stadium in the fourth quarter.
“There’s nothing wrong with their passion.” pic.twitter.com/w1rJJIus0B
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) September 21, 2023
“I would like us to have more production and score more points.” Wouldn’t we all? So, how about designing some plays that actually result in points?
Though Canada compiles the game plan, he says Kenny Pickett has freedom at the line of scrimmage. “Kenny’s got quite a bit of freedom to do things and get us where he wants to go. Kenny’s been very involved in the offense and what we’re doing, but at no point is this falling on Kenny.”
Certainly, Pickett has performed poorly. He plays a significant role in why this offense is struggling. But when it comes down to it, his job is to execute the plays he’s been instructed on. Perhaps his play on the field would improve if the scheme was better.
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Cast your vote and tell us if the Steelers fire Matt Canada.
At this point, it really feels like a matter of when, not if the Pittsburgh Steelers will have to make a decision about offensive coordinator Matt Canada. It isn’t often the NFL world is in almost full agreement about anything but it seems like the distaste for Canada is practically universal.
Right now the Steelers are last or close to last across the board in offense. It seems that drastic changes need to happen in the scheme and personnel and head coach Mike Tomlin is going to have to swallow his pride at some point for the good of the team.
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If the steelers offense falls flat this weekend against the Las Vegas Raiders, will it finally be time to cut ties with Canada? Cast your vote and let us know.
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Matt Canada has Pittsburgh Steelers fans longing for the days of Randy Fichtner, Todd Haley.
From media to fans, everyone is going off the rails. They’ve had it up to here with Matt Canada and for good reason. The Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator is back to his old ways (though he never really left) of designing a boring, predictable scheme that a PeeWee football team could defend with its eyes closed.
No question — Kenny Pickett shoulders a lot of blame with his subpar performances in weeks 1 and 2, but he’s only attempting to execute what he’s been directed.
The Steelers find themselves in the same boat as 2022, painfully in the basement of NFL offense rankings. 12 points — not including those from kicker Chris Boswell — is all they’ve put up in eight quarters. The dreadful output and lack of spark is a fireable offense in most organizations.
But not in Pittsburgh.
So, why won’t the Steelers fire Matt Canada? It’s simple. They don’t fire staff members in-season. You’d have to go back two decades for the last time a coordinator was fired. In 2004, defensive coordinator Tim Lewis was shown the door, but that was after the season had ended. The damage had already been done.
A coordinator has never been fired by the Steelers in-season, and it’s not going to suddenly change. The offense will suffer, and Kenny Pickett’s growth will be stunted.
The defense will be the unit to put points on the board, but a game like Monday night versus the Cleveland Browns just isn’t sustainable, no matter how good your defenders are. Aside from Minkah Fitzpatrick, we know Pittsburgh doesn’t have the secondary talent to pull off pick-6s or fumble recoveries for touchdowns, so the pressure will be on the likes of T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.
“I share their passion,” Tomlin said when asked about the “Fire Canada” chants during Monday night’s game. “We love our fans. They inspire us. They challenge us. We don’t run from challenges. We run to challenges. It is our job to win and entertain them. We don’t begrudge them for that. We want them to be fat and sassy and spoiled.”
While Tomlin shares Steelers Nation’s passion, he doesn’t share their concern. “I don’t share their concern because of my perspective. I’m a part of the process. When you’re a part of the process, it’s less troublesome to you.”
Despite many fans thinking he had this year left on his contract, Tomlin actually gave Canada a one-year extension in January. Whether the offense continues to struggle or just does enough to win games, Canada will be on board until at least January 2024.
But the Steelers have done some un-Steelers-like things recently, under general manager Omar Khan, like sign a receiver to a second contract and trade away players they drafted in an effort to get better. So, they could surprise us. The Week 6 bye, starting October 15, could be it. Then again, probably not.
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Everyone but Mike Tomlin wants the Steelers to fire offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
If the Pittsburgh Steelers want to have any hope of getting the offense on track, major changes have to be made. What do those changes need to look like? If you ask the fans, it starts and stops with offensive coordinator Matt Canada. But make no mistake, the criticisms of Canada go well beyond the fanbase and extend well into the rest of the league and NFL pundits.
Sports personality had some harsh words for the Steelers and Canada but this is nothing we haven’t heard from him before. He’s never pulled any punches about Pittsburgh and sometimes what he says stings because it’s true. His latest target is Canada and the example is on point.
“There’s a dumpster fire and he’s holding a match and a can of gasoline,” Colin said.
It is starting to feel like the only person who thinks Canada should remain the Steelers offensive coordinator is head coach Mike Tomlin. And to be honest, until Tomlin cares, it doesn’t matter how many pundits criticize Tomlin or how many “Fire Canada” chants he hears.
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The Steelers could take the Bruce Arians route with OC Matt Canada.
Mike Tomlin is optimistic about offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s ability to run the Pittsburgh Steelers offense going forward. But is team president/owner Art Rooney II?
That’s who Canada’s future in Pittsburgh could depend on, according to Steelers insider Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
And Dulac uses the Bruce Arians precedent as an example of Rooney’s power over who stays and who doesn’t in Pittsburgh.
All of that went down in 2012 — three Arians head coach gigs ago — so let’s recap.
While Tomlin swore up and down that he made the call on Arians and not Rooney, it’s clear that the final decision was ultimately Rooney’s.
Dulac believes that Rooney could pull rank again and show Canada the door.
In a January 21 chat, Dulac reminded Steelers fans (on two occasions) that Rooney stepped in to give Arians the old heave-ho when Tomlin — and Ben Roethlisberger — wanted the coordinator to remain in Pittsburgh.
Blame Canada or blame the personnel, the offensive scheme was severely flawed in 2021. How the Pittsburgh Steelers attempt to recover will undoubtedly be the most-watched storyline of the offseason.
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Count Charlie Batch among those who are less than thrilled that the team appears likely to retain offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
The Pittsburgh Steelers 2021 offense was a total and utter disaster, and by the sound of it, the guy who ran it will be given a chance to redeem himself.
Count former Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch among those who are less than thrilled that the team appears likely to retain offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
“This is just kind of where I’m at; I don’t like this offense, I don’t like cutting half of the field off, but hey, this is what is it, and we’ve seen exactly what this offense is capable of doing,” Batch told 93.7 The Fan Morning Show on Friday.
“I just don’t see us not advancing, and now saying miraculously this offensive is going to go from the bottom of the league to the top of the league, I just don’t see it happening.”
Batch believes that the Steelers won’t part ways with Canada, especially if years remain on his contract.
“[Art Rooney II is] not going to pay him to sit at home, so if he has years on [his contract], Matt’s going to be back,” Batch said.
According to Mark Kaboly of The Athletic, Canada’s contract situation is unknown since he was promoted (from quarterbacks coach) and not an external hire. Coordinators have gotten three-year contracts, while position coaches have gotten two years.
As dreadful as the Steelers run game was in 2021 (29th), it slightly improved over 2020’s last-ranked ground attack.
That nowhere near makes up for the fact that Pittsburgh was far worse in at least 10 other offensive categories like scoring (34 touchdowns compared to 50), points per game (20.2 to 26), yards per game (315.4 to 334.6) and third-down percentage (38.9 to 42.2).
While there were promises of an exciting and creative offensive scheme, it never materialized. It appeared that Canada didn’t switch things up much at all from the failed Randy Fichtner offense. It could have to do with the fact that to pull off what Canada wants requires a mobile quarterback — unfortunately for the Steelers, there’s not one currently on the roster.
Can Canada learn from his mistakes with a new (mobile) quarterback running his offense in the 2022 season? We shall see.
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