According to a statement released by the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, the team's offensive coordinator Matt Canada has been fired.
"I appreciate Matt's hard work and dedication, and I wish him the best moving forward in his career," Tomlin's statement read.
Frustration in Pittsburgh has been mounting with each passing week, even with the Steelers (6-4) in the thick of the playoff mix as Thanksgiving looms.
Three weeks ago, right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor lost his starting job — likely for good — for popping off late in a listless loss to Jacksonville.
Two weeks ago, wide receiver George Pickens had to be consoled when he wasn’t the one who caught the game-clinching touchdown pass against Tennessee.
On Sunday in Cleveland, wide receiver Diontae Johnson had an extended exchange with Tomlin on the sideline between the third and fourth quarters of what eventually became a 13-10 loss to the Browns.
In the subdued postgame locker room, running back Najee Harris brushed off the team’s media team and continued to take questions in a compelling session filled with pregnant pauses where he seemed to be searching for the right thing to say mixed with candid revelations such as he’s getting “tired of this (stuff).”
And while Tomlin has tried repeatedly to downplay any sign of dissatisfaction — likening things such as Pickens momentarily scrubbing his Instagram account of all Steelers-related posts recently as so much “reality TV,” the reality is it’s fair to start wondering how much longer he’s going to keep it all together.
While Canada has taken the brunt of the criticism as the weeks pass and Pittsburgh continues to sputter, the truth is there is plenty of blame to go around.
The offensive line couldn’t contain Browns defensive end Myles Garrett. Canada’s play calls — such as a first-quarter swing pass to running back Jaylen Warren in which no player in an orange helmet seemed the least bit fooled — flip-flopped between bizarre and ineffective.
And Pickett seemed to act as if there was a force field 15 yards downfield, opting for short and (in theory) safe throws that went nowhere.
He didn’t top 100 yards passing until the game’s final snap and has two touchdown passes since the calendar flipped to October.
Tomlin has steadfastly protected the former Pitt star since promoting him to the starting job a month into the 2022 season.
He has pointed to the intangibles Pickett provides — toughness and grit chief among them — as proof of progress even as Pickett’s numbers hint that just the opposite is true.
There was no scoreboard to hide behind on Sunday.
No magic in the final moments that “Fourth Quarter Kenny” has summoned semi-regularly (if always briefly) to avert disaster.
Instead, the Steelers were exposed yet again by a team in playoff contention, this one an AFC North rival that happened to have a rookie quarterback at the controls.
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