“I’m so confused by that play”.
In a previous life, for more than two decades, Ben Roethlisberger was a superstar quarterback, particularly during his 18-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since he retired following the 2021 season, he is just another fan, however, with the same reactions that we have while watching Steelers games.
Nothing illustrated that better than his most recent episode of the Footbahlin podcast, which featured him watching the Steelers’ Monday night game against the Cleveland Browns live while they were filming. The above quote came after that disastrous third-and-1 failure late in the game on a keeper by QB Kenny Pickett.
The Steelers were trying to close out the game with a small lead and a bit over three minutes to play. Needing just one yard to come close to sealing it, offensive coordinator Matt Canada decided to put Pickett in the shotgun and employ a bunch of window dressing on a keeper that didn’t fool the defense at all. He was tackled for a three-yard loss, the first time in his career he failed to convert on the ground on third and 1.
With RB Najee Harris in the sidecar and WR George Pickens motioning across the formation from the right, the design was to have three options at the point of contact, including Pickett, or at least to present that look, so that the defense wouldn’t know if the ball would be going left, right, or straight.
That’s how it was supposed to work in theory, anyway. It certainly didn’t play out that way on Monday night.
“Hmm. I assume they were trying to trick ‘em?”, was Roethlisberger’s puzzled immediate analysis of what he had just seen. One wonders what his candid reaction might have been if he hadn’t been filming it for public consumption.
Canada has been roasted for two weeks straight during the offense’s slow start, which has featured a total of two touchdowns in 120 minutes of football. Were it not for the one 71-yard touchdown throw to George Pickens, and a few runs late by Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, this game would have been a complete dud.
But that one call was really the capper, and it set off a wave of “Fire Canada” chants that continue to echo through the mediasphere. One would be hard-pressed to find a sports program discussing the NFL this week without some commentary about how bad the Steelers look on offense and the need to get rid of Canada.
