Just when it feels like the Pittsburgh Steelers can’t possibly get any worse offensively, they do. Today was one of their worst performances of the season, losing 20-10 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Steelers had 261 yards of total offense, a lot of which came with the game already decided. That number marks the 55th straight game in which the Steelers have had under 400 yards of total offense, tying them with the San Francisco 49ers for the second-longest streak in NFL history. The NFL on CBS Twitter account posted that stat today.
It’s been a brutal run of futility under offensive coordinator Matt Canada, and it doesn’t appear anything is changing soon. It’s not as if Pittsburgh hasn’t invested in the offense. They spent a first-round pick on RB Najee Harris, a first-round pick on QB Kenny Pickett, second-round picks on WR George Pickens and TE Pat Freiermuth, and even a first-round pick on OT Broderick Jones this year, although Jones hasn’t seen the field much. It’s not a talent problem. It’s a mix of execution and play-calling, but the one constant of the streak is Canada.
He was the team’s quarterbacks coach in 2020 and since has served as their offensive coordinator. It’s the longest active streak of under 400 yards in the NFL, and while it’s still 20 games away from the longest of 75, set by the then-Oakland Raiders from 2005-2010, it’s not a good mark. The offense has been holding the Steelers back for too long. They’ve wasted historic seasons from OLB T.J. Watt, and they haven’t been able to win enough. It boils down to consistent failures on offense, week in and week out.
Sometimes they’ll catch lightning in a bottle and Pickett will step up and turn the offense around in the fourth quarter or late in games. But it’s incredibly rare that the offense can string together a consistent performance across all four quarters. At some point that has to go back to Canada. He’s the guy calling the plays, and if the plays aren’t working, over and over and over, he’s the guy to blame.
Canada gets more than his fair share of blame, with “Fire Canada” chants getting tiresome as they spread across the country. The lack of execution is an issue too, but as a whole, the one consistent issue is the offensive coordinator. As long as Canada is this team’s play-caller, I don’t have much hope that the offense can break through for a 400-plus-yard game.
