Team Insider: Steelers Could Fire Matt Canada Midseason
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers fans have made it loud and clear that they want to move on from offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Outside of chanting 'Fire Canada' during their Week 2 game with the Cleveland Browns, fans have also started a petition to remove the OC. So far, that petition has received over 1,500 signatures.
But would the Steelers actually listen? Over the last two years, speculation has risen about whether or not the team would move on during the season. The bye week would come and go, and no change would be made. This year, though, something could be different.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report Ray Fittipalo said during an appearance on 93.7 The Fan that if things continue the way they've been, one could speculate that management will make an alternative decision than years prior.
"I do think if this lingers not just one more game, but if this continues for weeks and it doesn’t get any better, I could see them saying, ‘Hey, we’ll eat this remaining contract and, you know, we’ll have somebody else call to place for the rest of the season,'" Fittipaldo said. "It’s a lot easier to do that when the contract expires after the season’s over."
How deep into the season would the Steelers allow the offensive struggles to continue? That's unknown. They have three games, including Week 3 against the Las Vegas Raiders, before their bye week in Week 6.
Head coach Mike Tomlin addresses the concerns from fans by acknowledging something needs to be fixed. At the same time, he shared that the team will not make any "knee-jerk reactions" and that he still has confidence in Canada's abilities.
"We got to get that mojo that we had in the preseason, where we're playing fast and fluid with confidence, individually and collectively. We've lost that to be blunt, in the last several weeks," Tomlin said. "We're not getting the type of fluidity that we want in our starts. We're not teeing up possession downplay, not being in advantageous possession down circumstances and really is making it challenging to sustain drives and to score points. We're not going to have knee-jerk reactions in terms of trying to make wholesale changes in an effort to change that outcome. But we do acknowledge that two is a pattern."
The situation remains one to monitor, but not one fans should expect to see a change made at this time. However, as things move through the season, those circumstances could change.
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