The Pittsburgh Steelers moved on from offensive coordinator Matt Canada today after the team’s 13-10 loss on Sunday to the Cleveland Browns. While Canada had called better games after moving to the sideline, the game Sunday was a disaster offensively and QB Kenny Pickett had increasingly struggled over the past few games. Former NFL defensive back Devin McCourty was a guest on the The FAN Checkdown podcast, and he said that Pickett’s struggles were Canada’s fault, and now the pressure is on Pickett. He feels that it’s going to be up to new offensive play-caller Mike Sullivan to get together with Pickett and figure out the best course of action to get him back on track.
“I think when you watch Pittsburgh, Kenny Pickett hasn’t played well. So quite naturally, if Kenny Pickett’s not playing well, the offensive coordinator’s probably not doing a good job, or he’s not going to get credit for doing a good job because the product’s so poor on the field,” McCourty said. “Now, the pressure’s all gonna fall on Kenny Pickett, because hey, Matt Canada was the problem to everybody. He’s not here anymore, now it’s up to you. So I think for him and Sullivan, they have to come up with the best way for Kenny Pickett to be successful.”
There’s been a thought that it’s hard to judge Pickett as a player when he’s been handicapped by his offensive coordinator. With Canada now gone, we’ll see if Pickett can actually step his game up. He looked like he was getting better in the second half of last season, but he’s yet to consistently put a full game together this year and has looked worse as the season’s gone on. He didn’t have 100 passing yards until the final play of the game against the Browns on Sunday, and despite the run game and offensive line improving, Pickett has regressed.
With his quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan now calling plays, we’ll see if Pickett can find a spark and pick things up in the second half of the season. I think it’s unlikely the team makes a quarterback change after the season, and if the team brings in an outside offensive coordinator after the season, Pickett will likely have another chance to prove he can stick as Pittsburgh’s starter. But right now, the focus is on the final seven games of the season, and if Pickett can’t play well enough to elevate the Steelers offense to another level with a different play-caller, there’s going to be serious doubts about whether or not he’s the franchise guy for the Steelers.
His first chance will be on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, and it’s a game that Steelers fans are going to be watching closely to see what Pickett is made of.
