Jason La Canfora doesn’t believe a Matt Canada firing is imminent. But that doesn’t mean those inside the Pittsburgh Steelers’ organization are happy about it. La Canfora, now with the Washington Post, joined 93.7 The Fan Wednesday to discuss the state of the Steelers, with the conversation turning to their offensive coordinator spearheading one of the league’s worst offenses. La Canfora downplayed the odds of Canada being fired but said there are many in the building who wouldn’t be sad to see him go.
“People have been done with Matt Canada before the season started,” he told The Fan via Jeff Hathhorn. “I’m not surprised he’s becoming the face of it.”
La Canfora didn’t specify who those people are. Clearly, Mike Tomlin is still in Canada’s corner, at least enough to keep him in his role as the team’s play-caller. But the results have been a disaster, Pittsburgh on pace for their worst scoring season since 1970 and on track to put up 30 fewer points than they did in 2019 with Mason Rudolph/Duck Hodges while having one more game in 2022.
While La Canfora’s track record is spotty, the frustration with Canada’s offense is obvious. While players have been quieter in recent weeks, their frustration was felt over the first month of the season with several not-so-veiled shots at the Steelers’ play-calling. Even coming off Sunday night’s loss, Chase Claypool vented about not getting enough deep throws his way.
La Canfora explained why Mike Tomlin is holding onto Canada.
“I would think part of Mike Tomlin’s thought process is I don’t want this young man thinking he’s getting people fired a month into his tenure as a starting quarterback in the NFL.”
He went on to say firing Canada wouldn’t change the problems within the Steelers’ offense. To an extent, that’s true. Pittsburgh wouldn’t transform from a bottom-three unit to one of the most potent attacks in football. It wouldn’t change the fact they’re still playing with a rookie quarterback, a young and average offensive line, and a receiver group that hasn’t always played up to their talents. But the Steelers certainly have their share of schematic issues too, an offense that’s overly simplified and doesn’t dress up its core concepts, making theme easy to scout and plan for.
If the team is going to move on from Canada, doing so after this weekend’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles is a logical time to make a switch. Pittsburgh has a Week 9 bye, and though the value of a bye week change can be overstated, there’s no real extra practice reps to be gained outside of a potential bonus day the following Monday, a change would give someone like QBs coach Mike Sullivan more time to prepare and work with Kenny Pickett on tweaking and adjusting to his offense.
It’s still certainly possible Canada stays onboard the entire year with the team making a change after their season officially ends. Pickett would have his second OC in as many years but a clean slate heading into what looks to be a long and busy offseason.
