Coming off the ugly 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 11, it was quite clear that the Pittsburgh Steelers needed to make a change offensively.
That ultimately resulted in the Steelers firing offensive coordinator Matt Canada on Tuesday of that week, promoting running backs coach Eddie Faulkner to interim offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan as interim play caller.
That apparently wasn’t the only change that the Steelers contemplated making.
According to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers insider Gerry Dulac, the Steelers had “some discussion” about making a change at the quarterback position, too, benching Kenny Pickett for veteran Mitch Trubisky.
During an appearance on the 102.5 WDVE Morning Show Monday, Dulac stated that the Steelers felt that maybe a change needed made at the quarterback position considering the way Pickett had performed the three weeks prior to Canada’s firing.
Ultimately, the decision was made to move on from Canada though, not Pickett.
“…After the Cleveland game, there was some discussion that maybe a change needed to be made at the position because of the way he [Pickett] had been struggling for those three games, right up until the mess in Cleveland,” Dulac said, according to audio via the DVE Morning Show. “Now, of course, that all changed with the performance in Cincinnati, but it had been discussed. …obviously they would like to see how he would’ve performed maybe without Matt Canada. We saw one game good, second game looked just like he always did.”
Pickett was rather poor in the three-game stretch against the Tennessee Titans, Green Bay Packers and then the Browns, passing for just 160 yards, 126 yards and 106 yards with just one total touchdown in the three-game stretch. Though the run game was really impressive for the Steelers in that stretch, Pickett was regressing.
Ultimately, the Steelers made a change, firing Canada, keeping Pickett in the lineup. That decision showed the Steelers still have great faith in Pickett being that franchise quarterback they believed he could become when they drafted him.
Head coach Mike Tomlin talked about Pickett following the firing of Canada and stated that the Steelers still believed in him, and that there is such a thing as football justice, which will happen for a guy who puts in a ton of work and prepares with the best of them.
“Because I work with him every day,” Tomlin said of why he’s sticking with Pickett following the firing of Canada, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “I’ve been really transparent with you guys about him and his willingness to work and my experience and what that tells me. This guy will do any and everything. He works extremely hard. Just saw him a few minutes ago in the building. There’s a such thing as football justice, man.
“Those guys usually get what they’re looking for. And so that’s why I remain consistently optimistic about the trajectory of his growth and development.”
The first week post-Canada, Pickett and the Steelers’ offense got what they were looking for as they recorded a 421-yard output against the Cincinnati Bengals in a 16-10 win. Pickett looked as good as he has in his career, throwing for 278 yards in the win.
Then, on Sunday against the Cardinals Pickett started fast, completing 7-of-10 passes for 70 yards before exiting with an injury. That ankle injury now will reportedly keep Pickett out two to four weeks after he undergoes ankle surgery Monday. That will lead to a change for the Steelers as Trubisky takes over. But it’s hard to truly take Dulac at his word based on Tomlin’s football justice comments after the firing of Canada.
