The Pittsburgh Steelers offense was mired in mud for much of the 2023 NFL season, and most of the blame was placed on former offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
Canada didn’t seem to vibe well with the Steelers offense as the players never seemed to come to his defense when they were asked about the playcalling.
With the team struggling to score points, Pittsburgh finally decided to fire Canada and promoted running backs coach Eddie Faulkner as the interim offensive coordinator.
The change immediately resulted in a win for the Steelers as they beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 12 to solidify themselves further in the AFC playoff race.
Pittsburgh looked much more cohesive moving the football as Kenny Pickett was able to find players like George Pickens and Pat Freiermuth for chunk gains.
The Steelers recorded over 400 yards of total offense against the Bengals for the first time since Week 2 of the 2020 season, snapping their drought via Dov Kleiman.
The #Steelers (finally) fired OC Matt Canada less than a week ago.
They now went over 400+ total yards of offense for the first time since week 2 of the 2020 season before Canada was the OC.
Took 59 games. https://t.co/LsvzQ59SIh pic.twitter.com/AaIAeujRvY
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 26, 2023
Pittsburgh putting on this kind of offensive show is an indictment on Canada and the job he did as the offensive coordinator.
Canada seemed to favor a lot of plays that called for short throws and after-the-catch explosiveness, but that was a miscalculation given the receiving talent on the roster.
Pickett was drafted for his big arm and ability to throw downfield, so he got a chance to finally let loose against Cincinnati.
With a more productive offensive unit, the Steelers are suddenly looking much more dangerous on both sides of the ball.
Pittsburgh appears to finally be peaking and they should be a tough out come playoff time.
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