What it means that Steelers fired OC Matt Canada after Week 11

The Pittsburgh Steelers announced on Tuesday that they have parted ways with offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Canada had been with the Steelers since 2020, first as a quarterbacks coach and then as an OC. Canada often came under fire for the shortcomings of the Steelers offense under both Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett.

Despite the Steelers’ 6-4 record heading into Week 12, they have a negative point differential and rank near the bottom of the NFL in multiple offensive statistics — Pickett ranks 30th in yards per passing attempt and 28th in QBR. The Steelers as a whole rank 31st in passing yards per game and 28th in points per game with an average of 16.6.

After a 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, they have now been outgained for 10 straight games, which you may not know if you simply looked at their record in that stretch. They have showed flashes of potential — for instance, Jaylen Warren had a huge Week 11 against Cleveland — but on the whole, the Steelers’ offense has been hard to watch this season, a disjointed and ugly operation.

Despite these shortcomings, Pittsburgh is still in the running for a playoff berth. The Cincinnati Bengals will be playing without Joe Burrow and the Browns without Deshaun Watson for the rest of the season, giving the Steelers a path to land second in their division behind the Baltimore Ravens. They may just have a shot at a wild card berth this season. If the season ended today, the Steelers would qualify for the seventh AFC seed.

Pittsburgh used their 2022 first round pick to select Kenny Pickett, and are hoping to be able to build the future of their offense around him, much like the Jaguars have done with Trevor Lawrence in a similar time frame. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has not yet announced who will take over for Canada for the remainder of the 2023 season. They take on the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 12.