It is official. Mike Tomlin has retained Matt Canada as the Steelers offensive coordinator for at least one more season. Predictably, Steelers Nation is acting like the Hindenburg has just been sent to rescue the Titanic.
It is not.
Steelers fans love to revile their offensive coordinator. It’s an annual pastime. Thanks to marriage of Madden and Fantasy Football, everyone seems to think that working an as offensive coordinator is easy.
- Full disclosure: I am no exception.
I’ve railed against Joe Walton, Ray Sherman and Bruce Arians. Yet, as the “FIRE MATT CANADA” cries reached a fever pitch, I’ve largely kept my silence, even when joining the chorus would have delivered plenty of clicks.
There are several reasons for this, reasons why Tomlin’s decision isn’t a disaster and might even be a good thing. Let’s look at why.
Steelers retaining Matt Canada ISN’T akin to sending the Hindenburg to rescue the Titanic.
“You Have to Have the Players.” – Dan Rooney
Dan Rooney routinely made this statement whenever he was asked to explain the Steelers continued success. The Steelers record, headlined by 6 Super Bowls, since he took control of the team from Art Rooney Sr. in the 60’s vindicates the late Chairman.
- The Steelers offense under Matt Canada had hardly been the Greatest Show on turf.
In 2020 the Steelers posted a 9-7-1 record that featured 7 come from behind wins. The offense was at its best when Ben Roethlisberger was in the 2 minute drill, calling his own plays.
Ben Roethlisberger and Matt Canada. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com
“A damning critique of Canada” you quip?
Not exactly. Ben Roethlisberger was a bad fit for Canada’s offense. This old dog wasn’t going to learn any new tricks. And Roethlisberger was playing behind a make-shift offensive line, with a rookie running back and a rookie tight end.
- During the first half of 2022 the Steelers offense regressed.
This isn’t opinion. Its fact. The Dr. de Acero commented to me, “Nunca habia visto un ofensa de los Steelers tan inepto” – I’ve never seen a more inept Steelers offense. And he was right. But we’ve also never seen such an inexperienced Steelers offense.
- Who were the most experienced veterans on the Steelers offense?
Chuks Okorafor, Diontae Johnson and Zach Gentry (and Gentry missed most of 2019 and 2020 in IR.) Outside of those three and Derek Watt, no one had more than 2 years of experience with the Steelers.
Moreover, emerging leaders such as Najee Harris and Pat Freiermuth were in their second years. George Pickens and Connor Heyward were rookies. Mitch Trubisky was in his first year with the team and Kenny Pickett was a rookie.
Assembling an offense on the field is a bit different that designating a week’s starters for Fantasy Football. It takes time for 11 guys to learn to play together. Even Joe Gibbs, who perhaps had the greatest offensive mind in the modern NFL, started in Washington going 1-6 before finishing 8-8.
(And Gibbs had veterans like Joe Theismann, John Riggins and future Hall of Famer rookie Art Monk to lean on.)
“Not Making Change for the Sake of Change” – Mike Tomlin
The quote above was Mike Tomlin’s to questions about whether he would fire Matt Canada midseason after the Steelers got pasted by the Buffalo Bills. Tomlin would be asked that question several other times during the course of the season.
Each time Tomlin would preach the virtues of a systematic as opposed to reactionary approach to coaching.
Tomlin’s philosophy prevailed is illustrated by Mike DeFabo tweet:
Steelers offense before the bye ➡️ after the bye:
14.13 ppg (last) ➡️ 20.89 (15th)
299 yds/ gm (28th) ➡️ 344 (16th)
94.9 rush ypg (25th) ➡️ 146 (7th)
204 pass ypg (24th) ➡️ 198 (21st)
33.6% 3rd down conv (28th) ➡️ 54.3 (BEST)
47.6% red zone efficiency (27th) ➡️ 54.8 (17th)— Mike DeFabo (@MikeDeFabo) January 9, 2023
That turn around might not have led Fantasy Football owners to scramble to trade for Steelers skill players to add to their team, but those statistics added up to wins.
- How did Matt Canada and the rest of the offensive staff pull off this turn around?
There’s no secret here. They didn’t execute any massive schematic change (although they did make some tweaks.) Instead, they eliminated the execution errors that had plagued the team earlier in the season and, once that happened, Canada’s system worked.
“But Canada’s Offense Lacks Explosiveness”
This is true. Canada’s offense does lack explosive or “chunk” plays. Even taking into account the turn around in the 2nd half of the season, under Matt Canada, the Steelers remain bottom feeders when it comes to passes longer than 20 yards.
George Pickens makes a clutch catch. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review
- But how much of this is by design and how much of this is Canada’s “fault?”
Perhaps a little of both. As Steel City Insider film reviewer D.I. Davis has pointed out since week 1, the Steelers might lack long passing gains, but the deep routes have been there and receivers have been open.
- If you doubt that look no further than to George Pickens’s tantrum during the middle of the season.
Mitch Trubisky tried to get aggressive in relief of Pickett against the Ravens and his 3 interceptions likely kept the Steelers out of the playoffs. Pickett too stuck with the short passes, particularly early on. As the season progressed, he got a bit more adventurous downfield, albeit with mixed results.
- On the flip side, Matt Canada’s offense clearly favors ball control.
That might not be exciting, but as the wins over Carolina and Cleveland proved, if you ball control combined with drives that end in touchdowns instead of field goals can be downright lethal.
Tale of 4 Offensive Coordinators
As mentioned above, I too was a harsh critic of former Steelers offensive coordinators Joe Walton, Ray Sherman and Bruce Arians.
Joe Walton and Louis Lipps in 1991. Photo Credit: Getty Images, via Sporting News.
Walton’s tenure was a disaster and his last NFL job (although he did excel at Robert Morris). Ray Sherman’s was arguably worse, lasted one year and he only had one more season as an NFL coordinator.
I also defended Sherman’s predecessor, Chan Gailey for his aggressiveness in the 1997 AFC Championship loss to the Broncos. As the seasons and AFC Championships mounted between 1997 and 2005, I began to regret his decision to put the game in Kordell Stewart’s rather than Jerome Bettis’ hands.
- Which brings us to Bruce Arians.
A good chunk of this sites content during our first year in 2008 was directed at criticizing Arians. Then came the playoffs and Super Bowl XLIII where Arians’ offense excelled. And of course Arians enjoyed tremendous success since leaving Pittsburgh.
- The moral of this stroll down memory lane is two-fold.
First, Matt Canada may not be Pittsburgh’s next Bruce Arians, but he has earned the chance to try. Second, Mike Tomlin is far more qualified to make that judgement than I am.
