After an offseason filled with major roster additions on both sides of the football, the Pittsburgh Steelers look like legitimate contenders in the AFC North and the AFC overall.
Defensively, Pittsburgh is loaded top to bottom with star power at all three levels, while offensively the Steelers have the pieces in place overall.
Expectations are high overall for Pittsburgh under longtime head coach Mike Tomlin, but one member of the coaching staff remains under the spotlight when it comes to either helping the Steelers ascend into contention or fall behind the rest of the AFC and create more change for the Black and Gold.
That coach is none other than third-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada, who has drawn a lot of hate and criticism throughout the 2022 season and the offseason after the Steelers scored just 18.1 points per game, failed to utilize the middle of the field in the passing game and really lacked explosive plays overall.
So far in the preseason though, the first-team offense has looked rather good. On three drives and just 17 plays, Pittsburgh has gained 194 yards and scored three touchdowns with all three touchdowns falling under the explosive play category.
Those performances by the first-team offense has former Steelers cornerback turned scout — and co-host of the “Bleav in Steelers” podcast with Mark Bergin — Ike Taylor believing that Canada is built for the job of offensive coordinator and is finally getting his first year at the helm in which his true offensive vision can play out.
“You give him some offensive pieces, you finally give him a quarterback that can finally have his offense now. … This is technically his first year, and it really is. He took some unfair criticism,” Taylor said to Bergin regarding Canada, according to video via Bergin’s YouTube page. “Coach Matt Canada, he really do understand what comes with the business. To be honest with you, you gotta have some different skin to be a coach in the NFL. When him and I had that talk, I said, ‘Oh yeah, he’s all the way built for this.’
“But this is his first year, in my mind Mark, he finally gets to have some input on his offense with the weapons around him that he wants to do.”
It’s certainly a fair point from Taylor overall when it comes to Canada.
In his first year as offensive coordinator, Canada had an aging Ben Roethlisberger and he couldn’t really move much anymore, did not like being under center and really was set in his ways offensively — and rightfully so — at the end of his Hall of Fame career. There were things he was comfortable with offensively, and things he wasn’t.
The two didn’t quite mesh philosophically, and that led to a stagnant attack that really didn’t show any life until Roethlisberger had to play in the hurry-up, calling his own plays.
Last season, Canada had to try and adjust to veteran Mitch Trubisky, who was signed in free agency. While he was seemingly a fit in Canada’s scheme, the Steelers were still rather limited, didn’t produce splash and really didn’t attack the middle of the field, leading to frustrations. Then, when Kenny Pickett was inserted into the lineup, some shackles were placed on Canada from Tomlin in an effort to keep the young quarterback out of trouble, running the football and playing in low-scoring games that the Steelers could win.
It ended up working in the end as the Steelers finished 9-8. Now with Pickett entrenched as the starter and key pieces added around him at receiver and along the offensive line, things should be opened up a bit more offensively.
So far, that’s been the case in the preseason.
Will it carry over into the regular season? That’s anyone’s guess. But so far things look rather good for the Steelers offensively at seemingly every position. Maybe this is the year that the Steelers bust out offensively and really follow through on Canada’s offensive vision, which was usually so successful in college.
As Taylor said, it’s Canada’s first year in which he can do what he wants with his offense. But it’s also a major prove-it year. No excuses.
