The Pittsburgh Steelers offense looked great in the preseason. The starters played just five drives together but scored a touchdown on every single one of them. It seemed a continuation of some of the momentum that Kenny Pickett and the offense had developed in the back half of last season.
Unfortunately, all of that momentum was squashed in Week One. In stark contrast to how the five preseason drives went, the first five regular-season drives consisted of four three-and-outs, an interception, and zero first downs.
While you can’t exempt the players from blame here, what was possibly the most frustrating thing was some of the play calling from offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Some have questioned whether Canada puts the Steelers in a good position to win games and score points, including Pro Football Focus Analyst Steve Palazzolo. Palazzolo touched on this point in a recent PFF video.
“Nobody has been excited about Matt Canada in Pittsburgh.” Palazzolo said. “That was the thing we ignored coming out of the preseason with all the hype. We mentioned it at least, but we thought maybe Kenny Pickett could overcome it. Matt Canada doesn’t put them in a great position to succeed. Now Diontae Johnson is hurt as well so they’re a little bit thinner.”
Looking back at Week One, Palazzolo and others who share this sentiment may have a point. Canada looked uncreative in Week One, and the offense just couldn’t get in a groove. He called a shallow cross eight times, a route concept that had poor results against the 49ers’ coverage linebackers. The team also looked allergic to the slant route, using it only three times despite it being one of the most common routes in the NFL.
It’s tough to fully judge Canada on this one game. The Steelers were unable to generate anything early, which likely made them pivot off of Canada’s game plan earlier than anticipated. But it seems like there have been a lot more excuses than production with Canada over his Steelers tenure.
Young quarterbacks like Pickett can be fickle. It’s so easy to crush their development, and it’s easy to look back at guys who bust and say “Man, if only he had a better situation when he was young, he could have been great.”. When you are an NFL team that spends a first-round pick on a quarterback, that right there is your biggest fear — your quarterback being good enough to win, but not getting the development he needs. And the question of whether Canada is stunting Pickett’s growth looms over the organization for the foreseeable future.
