For Mike Tomlin, the firing of Matt Canada was a move he probably knew he would eventually have to make. But the timing of the move was almost unprecedented. Tomlin has never had to make a staff move that big during the season, and in fact, the Steelers haven’t done so as an organization since 1941.
We all know it, the Steelers offense has been rough, to put it lightly, over the past few years. Only a strong defense and timely plays have saved this group from falling under the dreaded .500 mark over the past few years.
With this poor play, has to come some blame. Some has been directed toward the quarterback play, specifically Kenny Pickett, some has been directed towards Tomlin, but the majority was always directed towards Matt Canada. It seems like the firing only confirmed that the blame, at least for now, was properly placed. But Mike Tomlin doesn’t totally agree with that. He shared some of his thoughts on the decision on the Mike Tomlin Show today.
“Obviously, the decision was done with a lot of thought.” Tomlin noted to host Bob Pompeani. “I embrace the responsibility of leading and safeguarding those that choose to work with you. And sometimes when you make decisions like this, you feel dirty because you feel like you’re assigning blame or scapegoating someone, and that is not my desire, that’s not the spirit in which I move. But at the same time, I acknowledge this as a result-oriented business. And to be quite honest with you, the improvements were not fast or fluid enough for us to continue. So we made the change.”
A lot of fans have been scapegoating Canada for the failures of the offense, and it’s important for Tomlin to point out that he doesn’t feel the same way. Because if anyone thinks that the offense is going to turn things around all at once solely due to the removal of Canada, they haven’t been watching this team. Yes, his playcalling was frustrating at times, and it’s going to be great to get a look at Pickett without that hindrance. But as Tomlin alluded to, it’s an organizational issue.
The Steelers inevitably are going to have at least another week or two where the offense struggles to move the ball, and the blame hammer is going to have to come down on somebody. And I think Tomlin knows he’s not above blame here. He’s going to have to show that this team can improve offensively before the season ends, or he will have lots of lingering questions heading into the offseason.
The variable, as always, is Kenny Pickett. Despite what I’ve said about Tomlin, Pickett seems like the more likely choice to be next in line to receive the blame. He’s shown flashes in year two sure, but they’ve been few and far between. Tomlin would like to avoid having to make a midseason QB change, but the clock is ticking. Pickett won’t be on this relatively cheap rookie contract forever, and results need to come while this defense is still young and affordable under the salary cap.
