Many of us are getting ready to enjoy sitting around the Thanksgiving table while shoveling food in our pie-holes. Eventually, the table will be a complete disaster akin to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ struggling offense. Well, the Steelers started putting place cards in different spots today now that they’ve fired Matt Canada so let’s re-set things.
It Doesn’t Matter Who Fired Him
There has been a lot back and forth already between fans, journalists, former players and people who have no idea about who was responsible for the ultimate dismissal of Canada. It has been my understanding for some time that Art Rooney II wanted Canada to be the Quarterbacks Coach. What is not 100% certain is whether it was ARII or Mike Tomlin that wanted him to be the Coordinator.
While the argument can certainly be made that Canada should have been let go at the end of last season, that didn’t happen. Art Rooney II is the President of this organization and at the end of the day, decisions like this come through him. Whether it was he who made the final call or whether it was Tomlin doesn’t matter. He’s gone. For the record, Tomlin claimed in his press conference today that he alone made the call.
Why Now?
Mike Tomlin was in danger of losing the locker room. It’s really that simple. It’s one thing for Chuks Okorafor to make a comment during a game or for Diontae Johnson to get angry on the sideline, but it’s far different when Najee Harris speaks how he did following Sunday’s loss.
You can put up with a lot of things as a head coach but when players start questioning the coordinator, they are also questioning you as a head coach. Tomlin could no longer allow that to happen and this should, for one week anyway, settle things down in the locker room.
Temper Your Expectations
If you are thinking that with Canada now gone that the offense is suddenly going to put up 30 points per game then I’ve got some very bad news for you. Just because the OC is gone doesn’t mean that things are going to change that drastically. I am in no way suggesting things can’t be better, but there’s a really big component here you may be missing.
Kenny Pickett has regressed. This doesn’t mean he can’t bounce back but if you look at his body of work in recent weeks he’s struggling to make some fairly basic throws. Those final three passes on Sunday should have been completions but they weren’t. I have every expectation that Pickett will play better. His body language and overall demeanor has been poor and I have to think a lot of it has had to do with Canada. Therefore, I expect him to be better but let’s not expect too much right away.
What You Should Be Looking For
With Mike Sullivan taking over the play-calling and Eddie Faulkner taking the reins as the Coordinator, things are bound to be different. Will they allow Pickett to throw over the middle more? Will he be given the opportunity to change plays at the line of scrimmage? Those are things that we will see as soon as Sunday.
What I’m looking most forward to however is situational play-calling. I have to assume you won’t see so many throws when the running game has been just fine. I also tend to think there will be more chances for Pat Freiermuth as well. It might sound cliche, but I’m looking for the ‘flow.’ You’ll notice immediately how the offense moves when the flow of play-calling and the execution are in lock step.
Be glad that the Steelers have made a long overdue decision here but also be patient. And don’t forget to help clear the table!
