Steelers Twitter continues to blow up over decision to keep Matt Canada
By Tommy Jaggi
The Pittsburgh Steelers announced that Matt Canada will remain the offensive coordinator for the 2023 season, and fans are having none of it.
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator, Matt Canada, has a birthday today and he’s been given the best gift he could ask for: he gets to keep his job. Despite the discretion of countless fans and NFL analyst, Mike Tomlin and the organization went against popular opinion and decided to keep Canada as their offensive coordinator for at least one more season.
We all knew that this decision was likely, but it doesn’t make it sting any less. Steelers fans were still infuriated when the news officially broke. After some time to sleep on it, the fanbase is still ranting about Matt Canada a day later.
Every single year multiple Steeler beat writers continue to say Mike Tomlin strictly likes only ‘yes men.’ I wasn’t believing them until the decision of Matt Canada came out yesterday. #Steelers #NFL
— Blitzburgh (@Blitz_Burgh) January 19, 2023
It's a new game. The stats show that you need 27 per game to seriously contend. In 2014, the #Steelers averaged 27.25 per game to set the team's single-season points record. You have faith they'll match that in 2023? What are we talking about here?
— 𝖘𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖕𝖘 (@scarpizio) January 19, 2023
Byron Leftwich OC career:
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) January 19, 2023
2019-3rd scoring offense (with Jameis Winston)
2020-3rd scoring offense (wins Super Bowl)
2021-2nd scoring offense (Tom Brady leads NFL in passing TDs)
2022-25th scoring offense (1 spot ahead of Steelers)
Fired today. And Matt Canada is employed.
All I want is Steelers to win. Heck, I even want Matt Canada to do well.
— Colin Dunlap (@colin_dunlap) January 19, 2023
But I just can’t get excited. This is just wrong move.
Even as Canada “got better” as season went on, in final 7 wins team avg 20.57ppg.
That wasn’t even league avg of 21.9ppg.
Canada just shouldn’t be back
If it’s true that the only reason that Steelers are keeping Matt Canada is because he’s under contract & they don’t want to pay anyone else is ridiculous. If Rooney’s are that hard up for money then let’s start a gofundme for those poor folks
— J🍩ey Bag 🍩f D🍩nuts 🍩 (@joeybagovdonuts) January 18, 2023
It’s hard to say that I blame them, and I can certainly relate to some of these thoughts. Obviously, not every hardship on offense is Matt Canada’s fault, but if you really examine his game plan compared to some of the best offensive coordinators in the NFL, it’s hard to come away encouraged by Pittsburgh’s decision to keep him around.
Steelers are making a mistake keeping Canada
I’m going to dive into this with much more detail in a later article, but the biggest reason keeping Canada is a mistake is very simple: the Steelers philosophy of winning is out of line. If you are looking for an OC who can get you just above .500 and help keep you in most games, Matt Canada is your man. If you want to compete for a Super Bowl title, you’d be wise to look elsewhere.
I’ve rewatched every Steelers game at a minimum of twice each, and it’s very easy to understand what the Pittsburgh Steelers are trying to do. Their ‘winning formula’ is trying to run the ball 35-40 times per game, play good defense, and limit mistakes. The problem is that this just isn’t sustainable against good quarterbacks and great offenses that can force this team to play from behind.
When that happens, Canada just doesn’t have enough creativity or firepower in his playbook to come from behind. This is because his passing concepts are poor, and he refuses to utilize the middle of the field.
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I can go on and on about why the return of Matt Canada is bad for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2023, but it’s clear that I’m not the only one who feels this way. Fans are going to have even more to rant about if we see much of the same from this offense next season.