Steelers Rumors: Matt Canada speaks on offense struggles
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada was asked about the team's poor offensive performance on Monday night against the Cleveland Browns. Unfortunately, he didn't provide many answers to the media, nor did he portray confidence that the Steelers and Kenny Pickett would turn things around.
"I don't know. If you have the answer, you can let me know or tell somebody else. When you're playing good on offense or anything in life that is good, you stack it," Canada said.
Canada has to be feeling the heat from within the Steelers organization and from the fanbase. Pittsburgh fans made it clear they were unhappy with the on-field product by yelling "Fire Canada!" at the top of their lungs on Monday night. The defense scored more points than the offense.
Pittsburgh hasn't had more than 400 yards of total offense since Canada took over as offensive coordinator. His offense has featured three quarterbacks during that time period in Ben Roethlisberger, Mitch Trubisky and now Kenny Pickett. Pickett, a former first-round pick in his second year out of Pitt, was expected to take a step forward this season. He needs to do so for Canada's sake, of course.
Instead, Pickett has regressed, and the offense has gotten much worse. The Steelers are loaded at the skill positions with Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, Allen Robinson and more. The offensive line could use some work, sure, but by no means is that an insurmountable feat.
Canada needs to make this right, rather than sarcastically crowdsourcing for answers.
Steelers Rumors: Minkah Fitzpatrick defends himself from Browns fans
Minkah Fitzptrick was on the other end of the hit which injured Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb, thus knocking him out for the rest of the season. Minkah went low, while another Steelers defender went high. The replay itself is far too gruesome to watch again, though it was a relatively standard hit by NFL standards. Fitzpatrick was forced to go low on a powerful runner. It's how he was taught to tackle.
"It's very unfortunate. It's a tough, tough injury," Fitzpatrick said, per ESPN.com. "Unfortunately, part of the game that we play. I know there's people that (thought I) had ill will behind the tackle. It's not the case whatsoever. I'm a guy that's a competitor who's going to go out there and play the game. I'm chippy. I'm edgy, of course, but I'm not a dirty player. I'm not going to sit here and defend my character. I know the type of player I am. Chubb knows the type of player I am. I've played against him a bunch in the past. Five years, two times a year. I love competing against him. He brings the best out of me, and I bring the best out of him."
Fitzpatrick denies assertions from Browns fans that he was trying to injure Chubb. While Steelers-Browns is a rivalry, there is mutual respect there. Fitzpatrick is a competitor, and by no means would he want to take a shot at Cleveland's best player and ruin their season in Week 2.
"No chance that I would ever try to purposefully injure somebody. Unfortunate event," Fitzpatrick said. "We play a physical game. People get hurt, and you know, people sit behind a screen and tell me how I shoulda done it or what they would have done and they've never played the game. It's a fast game. Things happen."
Fitzpatrick went on to say he doesn't regret the hit itself, which is sure to rub Cleveland the wrong way. He's not wrong, though.
Steelers Rumors: Is Pittsburgh leaving George Pickens out of the gameplan?
George Pickens was featured in just about the only positive Steelers offensive play on Monday night, in which he scored a 70-plus yard touchdown. Kenny Pickett found him in stride, and the Cleveland defense never stood a chance as the Georgia product galloped past the secondary. However, it begs to question why Pickens isn't featured in the deep passing game more frequently.
"Why aren't they even looking his way? They aren't even looking his way in the progression. He should be the centerpiece to the offense. He should be the guy that they are constantly looking to get the ball to creative ways, handoffs, bubble screens, short passes, long passes. This guy is one of the most dangerous players in all football. And they won't make him the centerpiece of the offense," Mike Florio said on 93.7 The Fan. "And I don't get it. It's either that they don't realize what they have or the theory that I articulated on PFT Live: They kind of don't want to create a contractual monster with George Pickens because they would if they use him to his full extent."
The answer to Florio's question, of course, is Canada, who schemes the offense a certain way. Should he try to get Pickens more involved? Of course. Will he? Well, that's hard to say, because what seems like conventional knowledge to me is often a mystery to Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator.
