by What a miserable start to the season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are currently the polar opposite of what they were in the Killer B days: a stale offense with a stout defense.
The NFL is a pass-happy, offensive-driven league nowadays. In order to be a legit Super Bowl contender, a team needs to have a Top 15 defense (which the Steelers do) and an offense that can put up 28-31 points on any given Sunday (which the Steelers do not have).
This has caught up to the Steelers real fast.
For decades, Pittsburgh has based every decision around a core set of values centered around loyalty. This is the “Steeler way,” or should I say, the Rooney way. It’s been the standard for 50+ years (hence the iconic phrase “the Standard is the Standard”), which has garnered unparalleled success compared to what has been achieved by most other franchises. But loyalty can only take you so far.
It was Mike Tomlin’s decision to hire and later promote Matt Canada. It was Tomlin’s choice to retain Canada even though he should have parted ways him two years ago. The consequence? The Steelers have by far the worst offense in the Tomlin era and Canada’s system is jeopardizing the growth of QB Kenny Pickett.
To be fair, Pickett wanted Canada to return for another season due to their established chemistry and glimpses of success, which was evident by his impressive performances in the latter part of the 2022 season. Despite this, fans are continuing to see the same red flags and mighty struggles that Canada revealed when he took over the offense from the very start. The run game is dry. There’s no protection up front. There’s regression in your second-year QB. No identity. No pulse. The offense is overly predictable and defenses continue to adjust to it more and more each week. Canada was an average OC at best in college, and is incompetent at the professional level.
The issue with Pickett is that his pocket presence is out of wack and he continues to make impulsive decisions when throwing downfield. Fortunately, these are coachable issues that can be refined in the proper scheme with proper coaching. Just not Canada’s scheme. It’s easy to jump to the conclusion that Pickett is a “bust” or not “the guy,” but let’s at least give him a better opportunity. Steeler fans need to see him in a better scheme with a solid OC and an improved offensive line. He’s a talented football player who is capable of being a good pro QB. But in order for Pickett to reach his ceiling, he needs a better scheme and supporting cast around him. Of course, this will take some time to go into full swing.
While most organizations revert to assembling makeshift coaching changes, the Steelers continue to abide by a patient strategy. Tomlin is a phenomenal coach; just look at his resume. However, if this franchise refuses to stray from it’s whole loyalty standard and can’t win a playoff game (seven-year drought) then there could be some unwanted changes.
This franchise is my biggest passion in sports and I am extremely proud to be a part of Steelers Nation. They are the reason why I fell in love with the game of football at a young age. I will forever bleed black and gold. All I want to see is this team succeed. But this could be a very long season if the right adjustments aren’t made soon.