I never thought I’d long for the days of a guy named Todd Haley but here I am. I didn’t think I’d wish Bruce Arians were still here either but yep, here I am again. For all of the negatives associated with both of those guys they would still be more welcome in my Steelers’ universe than Matt Canada is. But don’t blame Canada. Blame the guy who brought him in.
Mike Tomlin will walk before the assembled press corps on Tuesday and he’ll talk about ‘change’ while spitting bars of cliches sprinkled among some metaphors. He’ll discuss the injuries and he’ll heap praise on the Baltimore Ravens to the point where you’d think the 1972 Miami Dolphins were coming to town. The one thing he won’t say however is that he was wrong. He will not admit that his decision to make Matt Canada the offensive coordinator was a mistake and should have never happened.
He’s not alone as most head coaches don’t admit the error of their ways when it comes to hiring and firing coaches. But he needs to come clean on this. The decision to bring in Canada made Ben Roethlisberger’s final season a brutal one and his decision to mold a rookie quarterback by using Canada’s offense has been even more ugly. Big Ben was able to overcome Canada because of his own experience and intelligence as a signal caller. Kenny Pickett is in no such situation and his play has actually regressed.
Pickett is doing things that are fundamentally not good. His footwork is poor and his decision-making has gone downhill too. He’s bailing on clean pockets and all of this comes back to something Mason Cole said. “We are playing scared.” A Pittsburgh Steelers’ team playing scared? This is what happens when you lack confidence and I guarantee you Kenny Pickett has no confidence in what Matt Canada is doing regardless of what he may say publicly. Read the body language.
I digress… An admittance by Tomlin that he was wrong likely wouldn’t change anything. Pickett is still hurt and so is Diontae Johnson. The offense isn’t suddenly going to turn into a high-flying circus act but maybe, just maybe, it will gain confidence. The group will have the verification that they knew this whole thing has been a failure and maybe they can move forward.
Perhaps my thinking is a bit dramatic and even a tad “overly optimistic” but I honestly think Tomlin coming clean here would garner a lot of respect from the players. We are not perfect as people, we make mistakes and we’re supposed to learn from the mistakes. The problem is, if Tomlin isn’t willing to admit the hiring of Matt Canada was a mistake then how will he learn? Better yet, how will his team win?
