Steelers' Matt Canada Deceived Steeler Nation 1 Too Many Times

When the Pittsburgh Steelers originally hired Matt Canada in 2020, he was expected to bring a modern element to a Steelers team that had been stuck in the past for way too long. He seemed to have a slight influence to Randy Fichtner's playbook with some pre-snap motion and jet action to go with Fichtner's predictable play-calling. When Canada took over as the offensive coordinator in 2021, nothing really changed. A bunch of jet sweeps and motions were used in a still-predictable playbook. Steeler Nation bought that lie, but we didn't learn. 

What Did Canada Promise To The Steelers?

All throughout the 2023 offseason, we were told that this offense was supposed to be different. Kenny Pickett was going to be able to audible and make decisions on his own. The playbook was going to expand. There would be no more predictability, as the Steelers would be able to finally not have their plays be called out by the defense. They were even going to take shots down the field and spread the defense north and south like the Killer B's Steelers would do. This was going to be an exciting year of watching the Steelers offense work. 

Canada showed off what he was talking about during the 2023 preseason, when Pickett dialed up deep ball after deep ball, throwing perfect passes to guys like Pat Freiermuth and George Pickens. It didn't matter whether they played first team or second team defenses. Pickett torched everyone with deep passes, effective drives, and unpredictability. This offense looked poised to dominate opposing defenses and emerge into a new era. 

What Did Canada And The Steelers Offense Do?

It was time to show off this offense against what many people believe is the best defense in the NFL. The Steelers got the ball first and opened it up with a quick pass, a jet sweep, and a pass where no one could get any separation, leading to a sack. The next drive was a run, a quick pass, and finally a deep ball. Unfortunately, Diontae Johnson slipped, and that pass was easily intercepted. 

Pickett's final stat line was 31/46 with 232 yards. Pickett averaged seven yards per completion, five yards per attempt, and some of those completions were quick passes intended to get yards after the catch. Including the plays where Pickett was sacked, the Steelers dropped back 51 times and only ran the ball 10 times. Even though the 49ers got ahead and pulled away quickly, those numbers are still insane. Pickett called out that lack of balance in his postgame interview. 

The basic stats don't do it justice entirely. His completed air yards was just 2.7 yards per pass attempt. Out of the 232 passing yards, the ball only travelled 122 passing yards. Any stat you see will tell you the same thing: Pickett primarily threw the ball short all game long. The numbers could have been even worse if it weren't for the few times that he made his own decisions on the field. 

Pickett threw the ball 10+ yards downfield 12 times, and he threw 15+ yards downfield 7 times. The deepest ball was on what the Steelers believed to be a free play after the 49ers seemingly jumped offsides. The deepest completion was to Allen Robinson during garbage time. Pickett admitted that he started chucking it deep as the game went on because he knew they needed to come back quickly. That led to a bad interception near the end of the game. 

A couple of the deep balls were attempted during the two-minute drill that led to the Steelers' only score of the game. Before that drive to end the first half, the Steelers attempted two deep balls. Everything else was short or behind the line of scrimmage. The run game was nonexistent. The 49ers were able to read the Steelers like a book.

Matt Canada lied to everyone. He did not call for deep passes. He did not let Pickett have his input until it was far too late, as clarified by Pickett saying he just decided to go downfield to try and catch up late in the game. He was so predictable that the 49ers were able to shut the offense down entirely. Canada did nothing that he said he would. In fact, the only changes he made were no jet sweeps after that first drive and a failure to run the ball.

As opposed to improving, Canada managed to regress. The Steelers offense looked like the Randy Fichtner-led offense that ran the same few plays over and over again. The run game was as bad as it was in 2020 when Benny Snell was considered the "feature" back whenever James Conner was injured. There is nothing to defend Canada with after that performance. The eye test, the base stats, the advanced stats, everything proved that Canada did nothing but lie all throughout the offseason, training camp, and preseason. He has deceived his own fan base more than he deceived opposing defenses.

What do you think about Matt Canada's comments and expectations compared to what he showed on gameday? Let us know in the comments.

#SteelerNation