Steelers inarguably have the NFL’s worst offense entering Week 8

Things have hit a new low for the Pittsburgh Steelers offensively. Here’s why they are currently the worst offense in the NFL as we prepare for Week 8. 

When the Pittsburgh Steelers moved on from a 39-year-old Ben Roethlisberger this past offseason, many thought we would actually see improvement on the offensive side of the ball. Sadly, that hasn’t been the case at all. This is worse than we could have expected.

Since the start of the season, the Steelers have struggled to move the ball effectively and put points on the board. Going from Mitch Trubisky to Kenny Pickett at quarterback hasn’t helped either, and the problems stem well beyond the signal-caller.

Entering Week 8 of the 2022 season, the Steelers inarguably have the worst offense in the league. Though Pittsburgh isn’t dead last in every single category, the average of these eight important departments has them sitting lower than any team in the league, from a statistical standpoint.

According to stats from ESPN and Football Outsiders, Mike Tomlin’s team ranks 31st in points per game, 30th in yards per game, 32nd in yards per play, 31st in yards per pass attempt, and 24th in DVOA (defense-adjusted value over):

These are just some of the biggest statistics that show Pittsburgh has the worst offense in the league right now. Other raw numbers and advanced metrics would concur. This is obviously far from encouraging, and the Steelers offense is actually trending in the wrong direction.

Over the past three contests, Pittsburgh is averaging just 11 points per game, while Kenny Pickett is last in the league in adjusted passing yards per attempt. But who is most responsible for offensive destruction and what can they do about it?

Things won’t truly improve for the Steelers until Matt Canada is gone

For optimistic fans, it’s time for the cold, hard truth. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to most, but the Pittsburgh Steelers will not see significant offensive improvement until Matt Canada is gone. This much I am convinced of.

Dating back to his first season as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2021, the Steelers have managed just one 30-point game in 31 contests to date. In that same time frame, teams like the Chiefs and Bills have seen 15 and 11 of these games, respectively. Since Week 17 of last year, Pittsburgh’s offense hasn’t topped more than 20 offensive points in a game (they had 23 in Week 1 this year, but 7 of those were from a Minkah Fitzpatrick pick-six).

In recent weeks, Canada’s offense has been even worse. They are managing just 11 points per game over the past three contests and just 14.4 offensive points per game this season.

After watching each game multiple times and reviewing the all-22 film, it’s evident that Matt Canada runs the most scripted, robotic, and bland offense in the entire league. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt in his second season as the team’s OC — hoping that his underwhelming season in 2021 was attributed to an aging Big Ben who he tried to work around. Apparently, this wasn’t the case.

Matt Canada is just plain bad, and there’s no reason to expect the league’s worst offense to improve while he’s still calling the shots. The Pittsburgh Steelers need to overhaul their offensive game plan and it starts with relieving a bad offensive coordinator of his duties.