If you are reading this, I am sure you are one of those Pittsburgh Steelers fans who desperately want the team to fire offensive coordinator Matt Canada. But you are looking at this all wrong. Canada is not the guy you should be angry with. Canada is like a little kid in a candy store and his dad isn’t paying attention to him. He’s going to do whatever he can get away with.
Canada’s dad in this is obviously head coach Mike Tomlin. Every play that Canada sends into quarterback Kenny Picket goes through Tomlin’s headset. If Tomlin had any issue with the repetitive, unimaginative playcalling of Canada, he has the opportunity to deal with it in the moment.
But this is the only reason Tomlin needs to bear the brunt of this. The defense is in no better shape than the offense. Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is doing less with more unlike any other defensive coordinator in the NFL. The front office has invested heavily in this side of the football and with Tomlin’s background in coaching the defense, this unit should be held to a higher standard.
At some point, squeaking by won’t be enough. I appreciate the stability Tomlin has created since coming to the Steelers and I have been a staunch defender of him at times in comparison to the coaching carousel some teams have. But there comes a point when the problems seem so glaring and have been going on for so long, that you have to wonder not if the players are giving all they have but if the head coach is doing everything he can to make this team better. Ok, rant over.
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