What does it tell you that the biggest story coming out of a Monday Night Football win for the Pittsburgh Steelers is what the crowd was doing? While they may have gotten the win on the field, it didn’t come easily, or the way it should have.
The fans were chanting “Fire Canada”, referring to offensive coordinator Matt Canada, which hit a fever pitch following a particularly egregious call on a third and 1 that resulted in a three-yard loss, which forced the defense to have to close out the game.
Pretty much every player that was asked about the crowd said that they didn’t hear it, or that it didn’t register exactly what they were saying, because they were locked in on the moment. But they certainly heard about it afterward, and for WR Calvin Austin III, the solution is simple.
“Fans pay their money. They can voice their opinions, their support, so they’re welcome to do that”, he said, via Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We just have to execute on the field and, shoot, give them a reason not to say anything [negative]. We just have to continue to execute, focus on each other, and have each other’s backs”.
Based on how the offense has performed through two weeks, that will be easier said than done. Austin was actually one of the better players on the field on offense, and he caught just one 10-yard pass on four targets, with a minus-two-yard carry.
It’s almost a tradition that coordinators receive all of the blame whenever their unit struggles. There are very few exceptions, and you have to have really built up your credentials to be spared blame for things that aren’t your fault.
With that being said, when it comes to the Steelers’ offense, Canada certainly deserves a lot of the blame. Perhaps not quite as much as he is actually getting, but I don’t think anybody would be upset if Pittsburgh decided to let him go in-season.
Now they are going on the road for the first time this season and doing so on a short week after playing on a Monday night. It’s already Wednesday and they’re still catching their breath from their win over the Browns, and soon they’ll have to prepare to fly out to Las Vegas to play the Raiders.
Yes, there are things the players on the field can do to help quiet the noise. I don’t think anybody has more control over that than Pickett, who frankly has looked about as bad as he has ever looked in a Steelers uniform more often than not.
But this isn’t something that is going to be fixed in a week, or even a year. This momentum has been building for a couple seasons. Fans didn’t just draw up huge “Fire Canada” signs in the middle of the fourth quarter. They were prepared because they knew what to expect, and sadly, they got it.
