Regardless of your thoughts on Matt Canada, there were certainly a lot of eyes on him over the past few seasons, particularly in 2023. Canada was, probably deservedly so, soaking up a lot of the criticism and blame for the team’s struggles on offense.
Canada was fired on Monday, to the delight of many fans. Now, if the team continues to struggle, that blame needs to find a home. For some, that will be Kenny Pickett. But for others, Mike Tomlin has nowhere left to hide.
Former Steeler All-Pro LB Chad Brown thinks that Tomlin’s seat is heating up, at least a little bit. He weighed in on 93.7 The Fan.
“If you remove the problem, it’s up to Kenny Pickett and to Mike Tomlin to move this offense forward,” Brown noted. “And if it does not, the pressure’s gotta go to somebody. We got one guy out of the building that we all thought was the problem. Now we are going to see who is the problem and who is the solution. Mike Tomlin could be put into that problem category if the offense does not move forward.”
In a way, Matt Canada has almost served as a distraction for Tomlin. The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016, long before Canada was the offensive coordinator. And despite maintaining an above .500 record, the team has had a negative point differential in three of the last four seasons and seems to be trending that way again in 2023.
For anyone who watches Survivor (yes it’s still on TV, and yes I highly recommend you watch it), there’s somewhat of an analogy to be made. Matt Canada has been “voted off the island” after being labeled as the biggest threat. But with him gone, someone else needs to emerge as the biggest threat, right? If the offense continues to flounder, who gets voted out next?
Of course, the Steelers can put my silly Survivor analogy to rest if they come alive and look like a competent NFL offense again. And let’s not forget that competence is all that people are asking for. Kenny Pickett has yet to have a game over 235 passing yards this season, while Baker Mayfield is averaging 239 yards per game. Mayfield only ranks 14th in the NFL among qualified quarterbacks in that stat. It doesn’t feel like too much to ask for Pickett to have an average Baker Mayfield-type performance, right?
It’ll likely be baby steps for Tomlin, Pickett, and company. But any sort of glimmer of hope this week against the Bengals would do a lot to make people believe again. And who knows, it could save Tomlin’s job.
