Tag: Matt Canada

Pittsburgh Steelers fire offensive coordinator Matt Canada

The Pittsburgh Steelers fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada on Tuesday morning.

The Steelers’ offense has been one of the least productive and most frustrating over the last few seasons, and most of the ire has fallen on offensive coordinator Matt Canada.

Apoplectic Yinzers looking for who’s at fault here will have to find another target, as the team relieved Canada of his duties on Tuesday morning.

Per multiple sources, it’s expected that running backs coach will be elevated to offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan will call the plays in-game.

Sunday’s 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns had to have been the last straw.

The Browns were starting rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson, but they couldn’t match Pittsburgh’s offensive incompetence.

First, there was the disparity in use between running backs Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris. Warren has been by far the more dynamic player this season, gaining 5.1 yards per carry and forcing 27 missed tackles to Harris’ 4.0 yards per carry and 21 missed tackles forced. And in this 13-yard loss to the Browns, Warren had the one truly dynamic play with this 74-yard touchdown with 14:10 left in the third quarter.

So. Why did Warren get just nine carries (for 127 yards and that touchdown) to Harris’ 12 (for a sparking total of 35 yards)? Beats the heck out of us. Mike Tomlin didn’t have a lot of answers, either.

Then, there was this from quarterback Kenny Pickett after his performance, in which he completed 15 of 28 passes for 106 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 62.5.

To be fair, the Browns came into this week with a 38% man coverage rate, fourth-highest in the league. But if you can’t adjust to what’s going on in the game… I mean, what are we doing here?

Now, someone else will have to answer that question. The 6-4 Steelers have never held a positive point differential in any of Canada’s three seasons.

Steelers fire offensive coordinator Matt Canada

Matt Canada is out as the Steelers offensive coordinator.

Early Tuesday morning, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced they had fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada. The team released the statement below on social media.

Canada had been much maligned, not just this season but during his entire tenure as the Steelers offensive coordinator, for the failings of the Pittsburgh offense. This group remained near the bottom in nearly every statistical category, and the offensive performance against the Browns on Sunday was the final straw.

Fans had been clamoring for the team to cut Canada loose all season with “Fire Canada” chants showing up everywhere, well beyond game day. Head coach Mike Tomlin had remained stubborn in this support of Canada pointing back to execution as the reason for such miserable offensive production.

It’s hard to know exactly how all this came about, but we assume the Rooneys finally had to intervene and do what they believed was best for a team still in the playoff hunt but losing ground because of the offense.

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NFL analyst says if it were any team but the Steelers ‘there would be firings today’

The Steelers have remained stubborn in staying the course this season, win or lose.

We have already seen NFL teams making staff changes to try and spark struggling franchises. The NFL is so competitive that complacency for the sake of familiarity is a recipe for failure. But the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t follow those rules and this season seem to have decided that taking a “going down with the ship” approach is more prudent.

After the Steelers embarrassing loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, former NFL tight end Doran Dickerson was on 93.7 The Fan and said the quiet part out loud about this franchise. Dickerson asserts that if this were any other team, there would be firings today based on Sunday’s performance but the Steelers blind loyalty means it won’t happen.

At that point, Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly asked Dickerson what he would do if he were in charge and Dickerson didn’t hesitate. Fire offensive coordinator Matt Canada and bench quarterback Kenny Pickett for the rest of the season.

Is this the answer? I tend to agree with Pittsburgh radio personality Adam Crowley who came back with the idea of just benching Pickett for this week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals as sort of a reset and see what happens. The Bengals are playing a backup quarterback so this might be a great chance to steal a win with Mitch Trubisky at quarterback.

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Steelers QB Kenny Pickett admits offense was fooled by the Browns

Kenny Pickett took a shot at his coaches in the post-game press conference.

It seems that every time Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett dropped back to throw against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, he was lost. Pickett could only muster 106 passing yards in the loss and there was no fourth-quarter comeback.

After the game, Pickett spoke to the media and not so subtly admitted offensive coordinator Matt Canada and the offensive coaches had the game plan wrong.

“The plan was they play a lot of man-to-man; they didn’t play a lot of man-to-man today,” Pickett admitted. “They threw a lot of zone looks at us, different zone looks. We were expecting them to come in and play man. We’ll be able to adjust better.”

In the grand scheme of things, the fact Pickett said the team was outcoached on a day when he played so poorly is the Steelers offense in a nutshell. Coaches coaching poorly, players playing poorly, one just compounds the other.

Pittsburgh definitely didn’t make any meaningful adjustments during the game to try to account for this misstep and if they did, the team didn’t execute them properly. Now the team is 6-4 and struggling to stay relevant in the AFC.

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The ugliest winning seasons in NFL history

The 2023 Steelers have an ugly winning season, but it’s not the worst winning season in pro football history. Not even close.

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Folks, the Pittsburgh Steelers just keep winning ugly. In their 23-19 Sunday win over the Green Bay Packers, Mike Tomlin’s team continued its streak of being outgained by every single one of its opponents. This time, the Packers gained 399 net yards to Pittsburgh’s 324. The Steelers are now the only professional football team since at least 1933 to be outgained in every game and still have a winning record.

Impressive? In a perverse way, yes.

Despite this lack of offensive firepower, and a point differential of -26, the Steelers stand at 6-3 on the season, which got us thinking — what are the worst winning seasons in NFL history? Those seasons in which you think to yourself, “There’s no WAY these guys can be winning,” but they are anyway?

As it turns out, the Steelers are nowhere near the worst winning teams in these categories. But it is notable that in all three seasons of Matt Canada’s tenure as the Steelers’ offensive coordinator, the Steelers are either on this list, or in the discussion.

Social media reacts to another rough outing by Steelers QB Kenny Pickett

Steelers fans are divided about how to feel about Kenny Pickett.

Some Pittsburgh Steelers fans cannot enjoy Sunday’s win over the Green Bay Packers simply because quarterback Kenny Pickett continues to struggle. It’s a fair point and everyone wants to see Pickett play better but the team is still 6-3 and squarely in the mix for a playoff spot. Here is what social media is saying about Pickett’s poor game.

Steelers OC Matt Canada staying on the sidelines this week

The Steelers rushing offense had its best game of the season last week.

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the media and noted that he was going to continue having offensive coordinator Matt Canada call plays from the sidelines as opposed to the coaches box.

Tomlin pulled Canada to the sidelines last week ahead of their 20-16 win over the Tennessee Titans. Did it help? The rushing game had its best performance of the season with 157 rushing yards between Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren.

The passing game was a different story as quarterback Kenny Pickett continued to struggle. Canada’s presence didn’t inspire Pickett but we can say with confidence the mistakes in the passing game on Thursday night had much more to do with Pickett than anything Canada did. You cannot fault the offensive coordinator for multiple missed throws.

This week the Steelers welcome the Green Bay Packers to Acrisure Stadium in hopes of improving to 6-3 on the season.

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Steelers OC Matt Canada should be calling plays like they’re his last

Matt Canada’s contract expires at the end of the 2023 season.

Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada is on the hot seat. Heck, he’s been on the hot seat for two seasons and hasn’t reacted like his butt’s on fire. But the reality is, that Canada really could be coaching for his career in the final nine games.

Canada’s contract runs out at the end of the current season and given all the problems with the Steelers offense this season, it is going to take a monumental effort by Canada in the second half of the year to salvage any sort of employment in the NFL, much less in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers offense is currently 30th in points scored and 29th in yards per game. Canada has come under heavy scrutiny by the fanbase and the media for the offensive woes and for much of the season it was warranted.

Pittsburgh switched things up on Thursday night and moved Canada out of the Coaches box and down to the sidelines. It resulted in the best rushing game of the season for the Steelers but the passing game still spun its wheels. Can Canada salvage his career if the team continues to improve over the next nine games or are his days in Pittsburgh numbered?

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Biggest reason for the Steelers offensive improvement vs Titans?

Cast your vote and tell us if having Matt Canda on the sidelines was why the Steelers offense was better on Thursday.

On Thursday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers had its best game of the season running the football. The combination of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren combined for 157 rushing yards and powered the Steelers past the Tennessee Titans.

But why the change? I suppose in the big picture it was a combination of things, starting with much-improved play by the offensive line. Head coach Mike Tomlin challenged his offensive line this week and they stepped up. This seems absurd that grown men have to be challenged by their coaches to do their job, but I digress.

We also saw some great running by Harris and Warren. Warren in particular was impressive. His acceleration and ability to make cuts without slowing down make him the more dangerous of the two backs.

Then there was that other thing. Tomlin moved offensive coordinator Matt Canada down to the sidelines and out of the security of the coaches box. Did this play a role in not only how Canada called the game but in how players responded?

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Cast your vote and tell us which of these was the biggest factor in the Steelers win over the Titans.

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Twitter reacts to the Steelers’ 20-16 edging of the Titans

The Pittsburgh Steelers outlasted the Tennessee Titans 20-16 on Thursday Night Football. Here are some of the best tweets from Week 9.

The Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers are on similar paths. Both franchises are in the middle of a division with clear favorites at the top. However, if they can find a spark in November, they might be able to change the narrative by January.

For the Titans, the spark was rookie quarterback Will Levis. For the Steelers, simply having offensive coordinator Matt Canada call plays from the sidelines as opposed to the booth.

The Steelers outlasted the Titans 20-16 on Thursday Night Football. Levis was not as prolific as Week 8 with four touchdown passes, but his 22-of-39 for 262 yards and an interception performance emphasized big plays.

Twitter was full of takes and remarks throughout the Thursday night thriller. Here are some of the best.