The Pittsburgh Steelers were stuck in offensive purgatory since the beginning of the 2021 season when Matt Canada was promoted to be the team's new play-caller. He never held the position before at the professional level and was only the franchise's quarterbacks coach for the one season prior. An aging Ben Roethlisberger did what he could in his final year, but there were still concerns with the approach from Canada in year one. It only got worse moving forward. Calling an offense for a combination of Mitchell Trubisky and Kenny Pickett in 2022 was an utter disaster for 17 games.
One of the worst things Head Coach Mike Tomlin could have done was make the decision ahead of the 2023 offseason to retain Canada for a third season. The belief was that no one wanted to interrupt Pickett's development, but anyone could have stepped in and had him performing better in his second campaign. Instead, Canada was fired midseason and Pickett ended up getting benched despite being healthy at the end of the year.
Tomlin recently agreed to a three-year extension with the organization, but one insider isn't so sure it would ever have come to that based on the decision to keep Canada around. Ray Fittipaldo spoke with Joe Starkey on The Joe Starkey Show and thought that Tomlin's job should have been on the line after everything that happened with Canada.
"I never thought when he hired Matt Canada and that tenure for two and a half seasons went the way it did, I would've bet my house that mistake would've cost Tomlin his job or close to it," Fittipaldo said.
The fan base would agree with this opinion, as a mix of no playoff wins since the 2016 season and allowing Canada to stick around would probably be grounds for firing a coach anywhere else in the NFL. Pittsburgh has stood by Tomlin since he took over in 2007 and it's clear not even his bad track record for bringing in assistants is enough to make him feel uncomfortable about his job security.
Fittipaldo did mention how great of a coach Tomlin is, which is true, but he also deserves to be held accountable for mistakes, and it seems like that hasn't happened nearly enough. This recent contract extension is likely to be his last chance to get the team back into contention with one or more deep playoff runs. Otherwise, he may be looking for a new job or end up in a broadcasting booth somewhere.
After three years were added to his deal, it's unlikely he will enter the hot seat any time soon, but fans will begin to become restless if a new offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith and revamped quarterback room can't solve the woes on that side of the ball. If Smith's group can perform well and the defense remains healthy, there is no reason why the Steelers can't compete in the AFC.
The standard needs to be set that just being over .500 is no longer acceptable. Tomlin needs to send a message that the Steelers' organization wins Super Bowls, rather than just shooting for participation trophies. The Canada debacle is a very unfortunate happening during Tomlin's tenure, but the page has turned and now it's time to get the job done.
Steelers' 2024 Schedule Not Doing Team Any Favors
With all of the new changes, expectations are high in the Steel City, but the franchise was given a tough schedule in the last eight weeks of the season specifically. All six AFC North contests will come in that timeframe with the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs mixed into the December slate. Tomlin has a lot to make up for, and he better hope Smith is also up to the task.
