Steeler Nation has clearly and loudly had enough of Matt Canada and they want to see him out as the Offensive Coordinator in Pittsburgh.
The fans aren’t alone in this sentiment. Canada has become the whipping boy of the talking heads of the sports world. Even former players are calling for his ousting. This includes names like Ike Taylor, Ryan Shazier, Eric Ebron, and even Antonio Brown.
Fans are left confused and frustrated about the Steelers offense. Today we are going to take a look at Matt Canada and why the Steelers haven’t fired him yet.
Are the Steelers Having a Bad Season?
We are only four games into the season and the Steelers have a 500 record. That doesn’t sound that bad, so we will have to dig a little bit deeper to understand why Steeler Nation is so angry at their OC.
The team’s two wins came against the Browns and the Raiders. That isn’t saying much. Those were easy games that Pittsburgh should have won. Those games left fans with a bad feeling because the Steelers barely won those by a combined 9 points.
The loss against the 49ers in week one is more representative of what they look like against a contender and it wasn’t good. They were never even in the game in the 30-7 loss. Against a premier defense, Canada’s vanilla, repetitive playcalling was a virtual feast for the Niners.
While the Texans are in no way contenders, they are coached by defensive-minded DeMeco Ryans. Nonetheless, it is a game Pittsburgh should have won. They not only lost, but they did it in horrible fashion, nearly losing signal caller Pickett for the season in the fiasco.
No, the Steelers aren’t having a bad season yet. They have gotten lucky so far and have won in spite of an awful offense. However, if something doesn’t change fast, things aren’t looking good.
Why Are the Steelers Keeping Canada?
People often cite the Pitt connection between Pickett and Canada as part of why the Steelers might be hanging onto the lackluster coach. They do have a good relationship as Canada was one of the main actors in Pickett’s college recruitment, but Canada didn’t really coach the quarterback before his time with the Steelers. It’s hard to say his coaching has been great for Pickett. Canada seems to be holding him back more than anything.
As Rich Eisen pointed out on his show, Head Coach Mike Tomlin is very unlikely to make a move at either coordinator position mid-season because it would destabilize the team. The group is fairly young and would likely not react well. A replacement would also need to be waiting in the wings and there is no heir apparent here.
It is also unlikely that Canada will be relieved of his play-calling duties. Unlike coaches like McCarthy in Dallas, Tomlin is a defensive-minded coach and unlikely to be comfortable calling the offense in an in-game situation.
It is likely that the fans will ultimately get their desire and see Canada gone, but it probably won’t happen until the end of the season unless the outcry gets louder. Tomlin has already said that he doesn’t intend to make a change right now- and that has some people questioning Tomlin’s decision-making.
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