I don’t know everything there is to know in terms of what’s happening inside in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ locker room but I know it’s not exactly harmonious. Oh sure, the defense – while dealing with numerous injuries – should be getting along fine. It’s the offense that seems to be acting like a politically volatile family during the holidays and I’m not sure what Mike Tomlin can do about it.
I say this because I trust that Coach Tomlin is a wise man who has the pulse of his team on a 24/7 basis. How anyone in his position could not see the problems with his offense is beyond me but I don’t think that’s it. He has to see what his players on that unit see. He has to see what all of the talking heads see and he has to see what you and I – the fans – can see.
In recent weeks, Chuks Okorafor has made comments about the offense. George Pickens is immature and has put that on display with both his on field and off field behavior. Diontae Johnson, who punched Mitchell Trubisky last year, was literally carried away on the sidelines yesterday by rookie Broderick Jones. Johnson was clearly upset about what was happening with this offense. Then we had Najee Harris…
Harris sat in front of his locker yesterday following the 13-10 loss to Cleveland ruminating over what to say. Harris is a bright young man and he tried to choose his words carefully. After seeing his backfield mate Jaylen Warren outplay him in the last two weeks, Harris knew he could come off as jealous or resentful. He flat out knows he isn’t getting it done but when asked if it felt like the defense knew what was coming Harris didn’t exactly say “no.”
Like all of us, Harris is “tired of this shit” and that brings me back to my original point. Tomlin is handcuffed and he knows it. He has to know that not bringing Matt Canada back this year was the right move but Art Rooney II wouldn’t cough up the $700,000 to make it happen. I’m guessing when the BYE week came around Tomlin was told the same thing and after yesterday’s pathetic performance from his quarterback and offense in general, Tomlin probably didn’t even bother going into ARII’s office. He’s resigned to his fate which hitches his own wagon to Canada.
But perhaps worse than that is the fact that his own players are losing faith in him. Not because they don’t think he can still coach, but because he can’t rid them of a coordinator who has been an abject failure. Under Canada, his first round quarterback has regressed. The receivers are disgruntled and the play design makes a pee wee football coach laugh. Tomlin HAS to know and see all of this doesn’t he? Of course he does but there’s little he can do and he’s losing his players as a result whether his fault or not.
UPDATE: The Steelers fired Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada as of 8:45amET Tuesday morning.
