Matt Canada was supposed to overhaul the Steelers staid offense and bring it into the era of RPOs and overwhelming trickery. But that hasn't happened at all.
There are many ways to illustrate Canada's ineffectiveness: Pittsburgh being near the bottom of the league in offense; pathetic fourth down calls that fail to advance the ball beyond the line of scrimmage. But one stat stands above all the others, and it comes courtesy of Seth Galina from Pro Football Focus.
Through four weeks, the Steelers' use of motion and switches are down 10% from 2020. Somehow, they've become less dynamic since installing Canada as offensive coordinator.
Ben Roethlisberger shoulders plenty of the blame, of course. Mike Tomlin admitted Tuesday the cooked quarterback is battling a hip injury, though the coach stubbornly insists he's the best option available. Still, Tomlin did concede Roethlisberger's mobility is gone.
His arm strength is, too. Big Ben has the second-worst completion rate in the league (23.1%) on deep throws. It doesn't help that he's constantly under siege, thanks to Pittsburgh's porous offensive line.
Making matters worse: he's not receiving any help from his offensive coordinator. This looks like the same team that limped through last December and then got embarrassed by the Browns at Heinz Field in January.
Canada was touted as some sort of guru, but he's been unimpressive here. After all, he was Roethlisberger's quarterbacks coach last season.
In fact, Canada's resume is a mirage. He enjoyed one excellent season of play-calling as the OC at Pitt, being named one of the five finalists for the Broyles Award, which is given annually to the top assistant coach in college football.
But it's been nothing but underachievement and firings since then. He lasted one season at both LSU and Maryland, and before that, NC State canned him following three seasons.
His run in Pittsburgh might not last much longer. He's already provided the press with a quote to repeat whenever his departure occurs: "We're going to continue doing what we're doing."
That appears to mean calling for uninspiring dump-offs to the running back on fourth down.
It was foolish for the Steelers to believe Roethlisberger, who hasn't been the same since undergoing surgery on his throwing elbow in 2019, would magically bounce back in his age-39 season. But it was just as unwise to depend on Canada reimagining their offensive attack.
Once again, the Steelers are surrendering.
