It hasn't exactly been a good tenure for Pittsburgh Steelers Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada since he was promoted after the 2020 season. The offense has been one of the league's worst since he took the reins and it was rather appalling for fans when he was retained for the 2023 campaign. Nothing has improved in his third season and the notion of him returning in 2024 is not widely expected. The development of second-year quarterback, Kenny Pickett has not lived up to expectations and the unit as a whole doesn't seem to perform as good as it could with the current talent it possesses.
Canada usually speaks with the media midweek, but due to the Steelers Week 9 Thursday Night Football game against the Tennessee Titans, he hopped up to the podium on Tuesday to discuss his predictable and incompetent offense. Nothing he said truly stood out, as each week the play-caller loves to say that the group needs to be and execute better.
He did have some unexpected words for critical members of the media and fans, however. While he was answering questions, a reporter's phone fell off the stand and he quickly jumped in to acknowledge that it wasn't his fault. At this point, the coordinator is used to everyone blaming bad things happening on him, and he wasn't going to take accountability in a media setting.
"I didn't touch that," Canada said quickly after a phone fell quickly to ground.
The reporters surrounding him laughed it off after he claimed innocence, but those were not the only words that Canada had. He made sure to take a slight dig at everyone who is calling for his job.
Canada thought on his feet and his ego got the best of him when he implied that everyone criticizing his play-calling isn't putting enough blame on others who may have played a part in a rough Steelers offense.
"But somehow, someone will find a way to say I did," Canada said in relation to a random phone dropping at his feet.
The quick comments from Canada shouldn't necessarily come as a surprise. He has consistently avoided taking real blame for the Steelers offensive woes. Sure, he has said that he has to be better at times, but execution has always been at the forefront of his mind. He truly believes that if the players executed, Pittsburgh would have one of the better offenses in the NFL.
The excuse that he normally uses may have been accepted during his first year or so at the helm, but the reality is that the Steelers haven't had a 400-yard game of total offense since he was named the coordinator in early 2021. The same reasoning from the coaching staff has been used over and over again, and it has officially dried out in the Steel City.
Steelers Loyalty To Canada Speaks Volumes About The Organization
Pittsburgh has rarely been know to terminate high-tier coaches while initial contracts are still in effect. The external belief about Canada was that mixing up play-callers in the midst of Pickett's first full offseason as the starter would be a mistake.
There have been times where the franchise's loyalty has paid off and others when fans were left scratching their heads. Regardless, Canada will be around for the remainder of 2023 and the Steelers faithful will need to stick it out going forward. Assuming Head Coach Mike Tomlin is around in 2024, the new hire at offensive coordinator may just be the most important of his career.
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