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The Pittsburgh Steelers have fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada: Who will replace him?

While the team’s record isn’t awful, it’s clear that something isn’t right in Pittsburgh. The question now is can the OC’s replacement make things better?

Paul Rudder
Paul RudderEnglish_AS
While the team’s record isn’t awful, it’s clear that something isn’t quite right in Pittsburgh. The question now is can the OC’s replacement make things better?
JOE SARGENTAFP

It may seem an overreaction to those who point to the idea that the team doesn’t have a losing record, however, it would be accurate to say that the Steelers have not been good value for their current status at 6-4.

Pittsburgh Steelers fire offensive coordinator Matt Canada

According to a team announcement on Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers have fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Head coach Mike Tomlin also released a statement in which he addressed Canada’s dismissal. “Matt Canada has been relieved of his duties as offensive coordinator, I appreciate Matt’s hard work and dedication and I wish him the best moving forward in his career.”

As for what happens now, it’s widely expected that the Steelers appoint running backs coach Eddie Faulkner to the position of offensive coordinator, while quarterback coach Mike Sullivan will take on the role of play caller. What this means is that the team is essentially dividing game planning responsibilities when it comes to the offense. When you consider the idea, that not once in Canada’s time - three seasons - did the team post more than 400 yards of offense, the situation begins to look understandable. Indeed, in a total of 58 consecutive games, that was the story for the Steelers which was good enough for the second-longest streak of that nature in the history of the NFL.

The Steelers are a statistical anomaly

As mentioned above, the Steelers are currently sitting on a record of 6-4 which is mind-blowing when you take a moment to understand that the team is the first since 1933, when the NFL began tracking receiving and rushing statistics, to be outgained in each of their first eight games and still have a winning record. Where details are concerned, quarterback Kenny Pickett has the lowest pass touchdown rate (1.9%) by any quarterback with 500-plus attempts since 1970. As for the team itself, the Steelers are averaging 16.6 points per game this season, 28th in the NFL, while averaging just 0.7 pass touchdowns per game this season, 31st in the NFL. This of course brings us to another piece of statistical puzzlement which while justified given all that we just reviewed, is still surprising nonetheless. See for yourself below: