The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: Will the offense be any better without Matt Canada this year?
At least until January, this is the fundamental question. Yes, in time, the Steelers will hire a full-time offensive coordinator and he will install his system and things have a chance of looking dramatically different. The actual system they run in 2023, however, will not change substantially in the wake of offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s firing.
The only things that will change are the manner in which the game plan is assembled during the week and the timing and nature of the play selection on Sunday—duties that will be handled, respectively, by running backs coach Eddie Faulkner and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan.
So how different will that actually look? Sullivan is QB Kenny Pickett’s position coach and he’s still serving in that role, so from a coaching perspective, he’s not going to suddenly improve in that area. The running game, on the other hand, has been a bright spot.
Historically, teams firing offensive coordinators in-season don’t reap the rewards right away, though in most cases, the firings occur on teams that lack substantial playoff hopes. There are numerous exceptions that prove the rule, but there’s no question that this 2023 Steelers team still expects to compete deep into January and perhaps February.
The Steelers did not fire Canada now specifically with an eye toward January, of course, but rather for the long-term future. Yet they will still expect a certain level of performance over the course of the remaining seven games this season. Head coach Mike Tomlin said there will be no grading on a curve.
Perhaps it will be more a matter of priorities. Featuring the tight end more. Running the ball more and more proactively. Execution issues aren’t going to disappear, but this offense can be put in better position than it has been. There is reason for hope of improvement in the short term. But will that hope be fulfilled?
