It’s no secret that the Pittsburgh Steelers offense was a mess with Matt Canada as the team’s offensive coordinator, and the team made the decision to move on from him prior to Week 12. On his All Things Covered podcast, Steelers cornerback Patrick Peterson said the offensive struggles could be pointed to how “basic and elementary” the team’s offense was when Canada was calling the plays.
“The offensive struggles that we had, with Kenny in there as a starter, you gotta also think about it, not to point the finger at the play-caller, but I don’t know what type of plays we was running out there on offense when we had Matt Canada with us. I just feel like we were just super stagnant, we did nothing to exploit the defense. I feel like we was just very basic and elementary.”
Canada’s offense just wasn’t very creative, and the team was just boring to watch. They couldn’t take advantage of their weapons, and they dealt with substandard quarterback play from Kenny Pickett. The route concepts didn’t have any purpose, with Reception Perception’s Matt Harmon pointing out how much that hurt Pittsburgh’s receivers, and the team struggled as a result.
Peterson even said he didn’t know what they were running, which points back to Jace Sternberger’s criticism that the players were just told what to do and not why they were doing. The offensive problems also could be pointed back to some issues Pickett had, but the biggest issue with the offense was just how bland and basic it was. It truly was elementary, and Canada, who didn’t have any NFL experience prior to getting hired as Pittsburgh’s quarterback coach, struggled to adapt to life in the NFL after years spent as a play-caller in college.
The team went outside the organization to hire Arthur Smith as their new offensive coordinator, and Smith has had prior success as an offensive coordinator. There’s little doubt that his offense will at least be more in-depth than Canada’s was, and players will know why they’re doing what they’re told to do. The hope is that bringing in Smith will also elevate the play of Pickett and he can be the quarterback of the future, but he’s in a make-or-break season in just his third year after being selected in the first round in 2022.
Criticizing Canada was easy fodder for fans and the media, but hearing it from someone inside the locker room like Peterson makes it clear just how bad his offense was. The Steelers’ offense didn’t take any sort of huge jump forward post-Canada, but it is a little bit telling that the team had their first 400-yard game in 58 games the first week that Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan took over running the offense after Canada was let go.
Things should be better with Smith running the show on offense, and the Steelers offense should take a step forward just with the change in coordinator, no matter who is at quarterback. Canada was a failed hire and set Pittsburgh’s offense back, and it was obviously felt in the locker room. Smith should be an upgrade, and at the very least, the offense likely won’t be stagnant with him calling plays.
Watch the full episode of All Things Covered below.
