As Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin put it after the team’s 28-14 Week 18 win over the Cleveland Browns, the organization’s season came to a ”screeching halt” on Sunday. Despite the victory, the Miami Dolphins escaped the New York Jets, 11-6, and punched their ticket to the NFL playoffs as the AFC’s seventh seed. All hope quickly diminished late in the afternoon and the franchise heads into the offseason with plenty of things to work and improve on. The question every fan currently has for Tomlin is: will offensive coordinator Matt Canada be back as the play-caller in 2023?
It’s hard to say when and if Tomlin will sit down with rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett and get his thoughts on the offensive play-caller situation. The 7-2 finish to the season, multiple game-winning drives and occasional positive outbursts help Canada make a good case to at least finish out his contract which expires at the end of the 2023 campaign. After the win against Cleveland, Pickett voiced his support for Canada:
“He knows what I like, constant communication. The more I was playing, the more input I was able to have and what I like. We were always on the same page, Coach [Mike Sullivan] as well. Really appreciate Coach Canada and Coach Sully for the season we had.”
Pickett wasn’t the only offensive player to speak highly of Canada following the game as running back, Najee Harris was confident that he was speaking for the entire offense when discussing his feelings about the coordinator:
“We all believe in Matt Canada.”
The second year of Pickett’s career will be a crucial time for him to take a big leap forward. If Tomlin decides to retain Canada, he better be sure that he is going to be the guy for the future because anything other than that would be a complete failure on his part. The team’s quarterbacks finished dead last with only 12 passing touchdowns and were consistently one of the worst red zone offenses in the NFL throughout the season.
Canada’s unit will also finish towards the bottom of the league in total touchdowns and points. Those two statistics are… sort of important if Pittsburgh wants a shot of competing with some of the dynamic offenses that exist in the AFC, including one in their own division with the Cincinnati Bengals. If Tomlin is giving Canada a chance to finish out his contract, it better be because he knows he will earn another one and not because he wants his buddy to coach for one more year.
Pickett and Canada’s relationship dates back to the signal-caller’s high school days. There’s no denying the duo is probably comfortable with one another, but the results on the field throughout the year were way too inconsistent to not at least warrant a significant discussion in the Steelers’ building. The offense is a young, talented group and it’s hard to imagine the sky not being the limit if a brilliant offensive mind was brought in. Canada is not that guy.
The decision to retain or fire Canada will be one that is talked about in Pittsburgh for a long time. Tomlin has had several questionable coaching hires throughout his career and absolutely needs to get this situation right or it could heavily affect the development of the young offense as well as be a detriment to a team that had a winning record, but a horrible -38 point-differential for the 2022 season.
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