For the first time in his career as an offensive coordinator, at the NFL level or in college, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada was on the sideline Thursday night against the Tennessee Titans in a primetime matchup at Acrisure Stadium.
While on the sideline, Canada and the offense had one of their better games of the season. The Steelers generated 326 yards of total offense, scoring an opening-possession touchdown and later taking a lead late in the fourth quarter with another touchdown drive.
The move that was announced prior to the game was a curious one, but in the end, it worked out well. That has Steelers’ second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett and veteran wide receiver Diontae Johnson excited about the decision moving forward.
“It was good. I think we communicate really well with the headset. No one else really gets a chance to do that with him, so I think him being able to go over to each position group and kind of get on the same page with them and let ’em know what we’re thinking going into each drive, I think it definitely was a positive,” Pickett stated to reporters after the win, according to video via the Steelers’ official YouTube page.
While in the booth throughout his tenure with the Steelers, Canada hasn’t had that ability within games to communicate with anyone other than Pickett. That changed Thursday night. Being on the sideline and having that ability to communicate clearly and quickly with everyone on the offense helped the Steelers seemingly adjust throughout the game, leading to a rather strong offensive performance.
On the short week, the Steelers were looking for sparks offensively. That included benching right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor for rookie Broderick Jones, and that included having Canada move to the sideline.
Johnson is good with whatever the team decides but is happy with the way the move paid off on Thursday night, which included him getting into the end zone for the first time since the 2021 Wild Card loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Just trying to look for something different and get a spark going. I support ’em, so whatever they do I’m with it regardless,” Johnson said to reporters, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “Just trying to find a spark, see what he sees out there differently as opposed to being up top. That gives him more time to talk to Kenny to see what they see out there, little stuff like that.”
Though Pickett didn’t have a great game overall, completing just 19-of-30 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown, the Steelers’ run game was quite impressive, racking up 155 yards and a touchdown, averaging 5.5 yards per carry in the win. There was a real rhythm and intention throughout the game from the offense.
It seems like at first glance that Canada called a good game. Moving forward, we’ll see if Canada remains on the sideline, but for one game, things worked out well for the Steelers with Canada on the sideline.
