Matt Canada is out as the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator, and now the pressure is on QB Kenny Pickett to prove that he can be the Steelers’ franchise guy. Former NFL center and head coach Jeff Saturday, now an analyst for ESPN, said that the firing of Canada is going to make a difference if only because it now puts the onus on Pickett.
“It’s going to make a difference for Kenny Pickett because it’s going to put a spark in understanding, ‘Hey, I’m playing for my job.’ You just saw one dude take the fall, he’s gone, and at this point, it’s all on you,” Saturday said Wednesday morning on Get Up. “Now, all that pressure that was focused at Matt Canada, is gonna go to Kenny Pickett. Make no mistake about how it falls in a locker room, that dude has to be your dude to compete in this division.”
Saturday continued that there were times in recent weeks when Canada’s play designs were getting guys open, but Pickett wasn’t seeing them or making the throws that he needed to make.
Pickett has missed reads and struggled going through his progressions in recent weeks, which coincided with Canada actually calling a few good games. On Sunday against the Cleveland Browns though, it was a poorly called game and a poorly played game by Pickett, and the locker room dissension after the loss led Mike Tomlin to move on from Canada.
There’s no excusing Canada. He wasn’t a good coordinator and Pittsburgh struggled on offense throughout his tenure. But Pickett wasn’t lighting it up this year either, and now the coordinator is no longer there to blame. As Saturday said, it’s all on Pickett now. The tension toward Canada in the Steelers locker room is going to turn toward Pickett if he continues to struggle with Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan now running the offense. He has to show he can make the throws that NFL quarterbacks should and start pushing the ball down the field.
With the run game finally getting going in recent weeks, it’s time for the passing offense to follow suit. That’s going to be on Pickett to get on the same page with his wide receivers and figure out how to lead the Steelers to wins. At 6-4, this is a team that’s currently in the playoffs and with its remaining schedule, really should be able to win 10 games and get in. But if Pickett continues to struggle, that might not happen, and the Steelers might consider going in a different direction this offseason.
