For the second straight week, ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith ripped Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Smith, a Steelers fan, already said last week he was getting sick of Canada, and after another pedestrian offensive output in Week Two, Smith is calling for Canada to be fired.
“Mike Tomlin’s gotta recognize, certain people gotta go. Matt Canada has had ample opportunities,” Smith said on ESPN’s First Take today. “Matt Canada has got to go. Too conventional, too predictable, too pedestrian and you’re not coming up with anything innovative. It’s hurting Najee Harris, it’s hurting [George] Pickens, it’s hurting [Pat] Freiermuth, it’s hurting everything. He gotta go.”
Canada hasn’t gotten any better in the three years he’s been with Pittsburgh, and Smith said the only reason he’s even in Pittsburgh was Roethlisberger’s inability to work with other coordinators. The Steelers retained Canada this past offseason to keep some continuity in the offense with Kenny Pickett entering his second season, but up to this point, it hasn’t worked out.
Pickett doesn’t look like the same quarterback he was in the second half of the season last year, and the running game has taken a step back from where it was at the end of 2022. The Steelers have the talent necessary to be a good offense, but they’ve been held back thanks to Canada’s play-calling. Pickens did have a career game last night with 127 receiving yards, but with Diontae Johnson out, he had to step up. Canada isn’t adequately taking advantage of Pittsburgh’s weapons, and the results prove that.
Two offensive touchdowns in two games is just bad, and Canada and the offense have to turn things around quickly, with another prime-time matchup on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders. It’s just not acceptable to play as poorly as the offense has so far, and Canada has to shoulder much of that blame.
If things don’t turn around, it could be a long season. You can only ask the defense to do so much, and there have certainly been cracks with that unit as well. The offense has to help that unit out so the Steelers can play complementary football. That’s going to be on Canada to scheme up ways to get the Steelers points, something he hasn’t really shown the ability to do.
We’ll see what happens this weekend and in the coming weeks, but there’s not a lot of confidence in Canada. I’m pretty worried about this Pittsburgh offense, but if the execution can improve, and Canada’s play-calling in particular can improve, they could turn things around and end up being a solid team. All hope is far from lost with the Steelers at 1-1, so there’s time for things to change. It just has to happen soon.
