The Pittsburgh Steelers had an uneven season in 2022. They started 2-6 and looked as bad as any Steelers team has looked this century. Pittsburgh rallied down the stretch to fall just short of the playoffs at 9-8, which gave the fan base hope that 2023 will return them to the top of the AFC North.
Ray Fittipaldo covers the Steelers for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and he joined the "PM Team w/Poni & Mueller" on Thursday afternoon to dissect the carcass of the much-maligned offense. Mitch Trubisky is a hot topic this offseason because of his cap hit and his hesitant play that led to his benching. Fittipaldo told Andrew Fillipponi that the sluggish start was not necessarily Trubisky’s fault.
“I think that was going to be the situation whether the quarterback was Mitch Trubisky, Kenny Pickett or Ben Roethlisberger,” Fittipaldo posited. “They didn’t exactly let Ben Roethlisberger run the kind of offense he wanted to run either. There were restrictions on what Roethlisberger could do.”
Matt Canada has come under heavy fire for his handling of quarterbacks. Canada must have passed by the Vince Lombardi school of coaching as the perception is he treats all his quarterbacks the same: badly.
Steelers' Success In 2023 Must Involve Improved Offense To Justify Mike Tomlin's Faith In Matt Canada
Fittipaldo did not directly lay the blame at the feet of Canada. He hinted that he thought Canada was just following the orders of Mike Tomlin. Tomlin had a plan that unfortunately backfired when a series of unfortunate events conspired against the Steelers during the first half of the season.
“I think the head coach had it in his head going into the season that they were going to play conservative on offense, and they were going to count on their defense,” Fittipaldo continued. “That’s how they figured they were going to get into the playoffs. In the second half of the season, it worked. Unfortunately for them, the offensive line wasn’t geared up for a good start, and Mitch Trubisky certainly didn’t get off to a good start. A lot of things conspired against them the first month of the season, but that was Mike Tomlin’s plan.”
Tomlin turned the clock back to 2019 when he approached the season without his Hall of Fame quarterback, but Fittipaldo questioned if even that would have made a difference. The Steelers couldn’t have known that TJ Watt was going to miss the time that he did in 2022. Tomlin certainly did not plan for the offense to struggle early in the season, but he didn’t adapt early, either.
“I don’t think it necessarily has to be the plan going into 2023,” Fittipaldo replied to Fillippoini. “I think it has to change. You are not going to come back with the exact same defense. We’ll see what happens with Cam Sutton and Larry Ogunjobi, but your team is never the same. If last year taught those guys anything you have to be prepared to mold your team differently if there is an injury to a guy like TJ Watt. You can make an argument that when TJ Watt was out, they should have taken the handcuffs off.”
The Steelers could have been aggressive early in the season and loosened the reins on Trubisky against the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns, but Tomlin and Canada probably thought they could still play conservative offense and win. The reality of the defense without Watt didn’t set in until the New York Jets game and the option of turning a rookie quarterback loose lasted two quarters and ended when the Steelers fell to 1-3.
Canada has established that he has no trust in whoever his quarterback is, and he will be calling plays in 2023 whether we like it or not. It is well established and even the national media understands that the entirety of Steeler Nation blames Canada at this point. Tomlin has not escaped scrutiny, but if Pickett and the offense struggle in 2023, the longtime head coach has hitched his wagon to Canada for better or for worse. He will get full credit or blame for whatever the results turn out to be next season.
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