January 20, 2023 • 25 mins
Yesterday it was confirmed by the Steelers that Matt Canada will return as the team's offensive coordinator in 2023. Matt Williamson joins Stan to debate if he thinks it's the right move for the team to make and how the offense can continue to build on its second-half season success.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
They have a little bit thing to going with the
run game, and it's hard to play against, and it
is somewhat complex and you're throwing some quarterback runs. But
the packing game concepts to me are black luster told.
This is Saverein on Steelers. Hello to all in Steeler
Nation and welcome to the Sabbagh on Steelers podcast. Thanks
for finding us. Hope you enjoy our Steelers content we
(00:24):
post up twice weekly at Steelers dot com talking about
the Steelers and issues facing them the off season leading
into the season. I also invite you to listen to
my daily radio show on the flagship station, one of
them here in Pittsburgh, ESPN Pittsburgh nine seventy w b
(00:44):
g G A M. I'm on every day from noon
until two Eastern time, and you can get at v
ESPN over the year. If not, you can download the
I Heart Media app. It's free and you can listen
to me that way. If you're noon to twoism can
venient for you or you're out of town, so we
invite you to do that. The Steelers, of course, this
(01:05):
week announced that Matt Canada is coming back as offensive coordinator.
Uh that wasn't unexpected. It doesn't mean that I necessarily
agree with it, uh, I don't. Certainly, the Steelers did
show improvement as the second half of the season war on,
and a lot of that was due to the improvement
of Kenny Pickett, and certainly Matt Canada had a lot
(01:28):
to do with that. But even though they were improving
and the arrow was pointed up, it doesn't mean they're
anywhere close to being good enough. They're far, far, far
far from it. Now maybe that continues in two thousand three.
Um if so, okay, But I look at it and
if they're thinking that they can just stay with the
(01:49):
status quo, not only in personnel but in their their
thought process, I think they're mistaken. They need to get better.
The people that they have need to be better. Pick it,
younger players, even George pick As. We've seen the talenty as,
but there are, you know, certain nuances to playing the
position that have to be learned at some point. But
(02:13):
they also need to add The offensive line did a
nice job jelling together and they got of all the
units got better than any throughout the course of the season.
But that doesn't mean that they're good enough. There's still
a nine and eight football team and so the arrow
pointed up. One of the things that happened with the
offensive line is that none of those guys were injured
(02:35):
for a lengthy period of time, and so they were
able to play together, which is significant when you're talking
about an offensive line in particular. But can you really
count on that happening again? They need better people. That
doesn't mean you have to replace all five on the
offensive line, but you add a really top player, let's
(02:56):
say your number one pick or even your number two pick.
That guy has got to be an improvement. Again, they've
got to shy away from getting stuck with the idea,
well they're the best we have. Well, that's all well
and good, but that only matters and interscried scrimmages. What
(03:17):
matters is how do you stack up against your competition?
How do you stack up against the Ravens of the Bengals,
of the Browns even or ultimately the Chiefs in Buffalo.
That's what they've got to answer. And this offense really
(03:37):
hasn't proven anything yet. It's got some component parts, the quarterback,
both wide receivers, the tight end, and the lead running back,
but yet they still don't score touchdowns. That's the payoff.
Paid dirt is the payoff. They need a lot of improvement. Now,
(04:01):
we won't know until September whether or not the offense
in was limited because they didn't want to load up
Kenny Pickett's plate. It may have been that Mike Tomlins
went to Matt Cannon said, look, we can't give him
(04:22):
too much. Let's take it easy with him and slowly
expand the offense for him. Maybe that was the case.
We should begin to find out when games matter in September.
He should have a larger chunk of the offense at
his disposal. But what if that was the offense with
(04:47):
a few different tweaks. What if that's where we come
to expect dink and dunk. He won deep every once
in a while. That's why I'm advocating, and I think
strongly that the Steelers bring in and give him whatever
name you want, senior offensive assistant, passing game coordinator, whatever
(05:12):
you want to call him, a set of veteran eyes.
We have been other places and have had some success.
Matt Cannon has had no success, none. Zero. Now the
offenses that he commanded both finished over five nine, seven
and one and nine and eight. But still we all
know the offense were very good and frankly one it
(05:36):
had been for Ben Roethlisberger. There's no way there. Nine
seven and one bring in a fresh set of eyes.
Names well, Frank Reich, Byron Leftwich. I know a lot
of people are suggesting that left Which lost his job
in Tampa because he didn't make any changes or addistance
to his offense. Well, two things come to mind. Number on,
(06:00):
I'm sure Tom Brady had a lot to say about that,
and whatever Byron left Which may have wanted to install
in the offense, I guarantee you that Tom Brady had
a great deal to say so as to whether they
did it or not. Number two, as evidence will show,
Todd Balls wanted to bring in his own offensive staff.
(06:22):
This was the blues Arians offensive staff that he inherited
when he took over the job, and he wanted to
bring in his own people on the offensive side of
the ball. Bulls is a defensive guy, but obviously as
relationships with offensive coaches throughout the league, and he wanted
his own personnel to coach the offense. Understandable every head
(06:43):
coach does that, especially now that it may be the
Brady is not coming back. But you're bringing a guy
like that who's had some success, a Frank Reich who's
had some success. He doesn't have to infringe on Matt
Canada's authority, but he can in meetings say, look, what
(07:06):
if we try this, What if we do this, What
if we this week take advantage of this cornerback maybe
something that no one else spotted, experienced set of eyes
and experience with some degree of success. Why not? And then, oh,
by the way, if things go poorly in let's say September,
(07:30):
and the offense looks a lot like it did in
you're a new offensive coordinator. May be already there right
for you. I mean, I don't think you hire guys
like that in mind, but it would be an added
benefit and something that may be needed. I'm not in
favor of the return of Matt Canada. I'm wanting to
(07:50):
give him the benefit of the doubt that the offense
was dumbed down, but the offense had problems in as well.
With a Hall of Fame quarterback, I'm just not sold
on it. But I'm willing to give him a chance.
But I certainly would have a short lease. The problem
is if you don't bring in someone and things do
(08:11):
not go well in September, they can't afford to get
off to a two and six start again, and you
make a move, who do you bring in someone from
the outside in the in early October to install a
new offense doesn't work, But you're bringing a guy who's
(08:31):
been with you at least through O t A S
and trainee camp and the preseason. You have already made
replacement if you need it. But even if you don't,
he could help make Matt Canada a better offensive coordinator
just by offering his expertise. And if you're confident enough
(08:52):
in your abilities, you shouldn't reject that. Look, we had
that same situation with Brian Flores and the defense. Terrell
Austin didn't blink and say, get out of my face,
I don't want to hear what you have to say. No,
he was looking to make the defense as good as
it possibly could be, and the input from Brian Flores
was valuable. The same could be said of an offensive
(09:15):
coordinator like most of us. Matt Williamson of Steelers Nation
Radio and a weekly visitor to my show on ESPN Pittsburgh,
has had his concerns about the offense. He joins us. Now, Uh,
did you see any I don't want to use the
word improvement. Did you see any changes in the Matt
(09:38):
Canada offense with Kenny Pickett as the season progressed down
the line? Um, anything that would give you an idea
of what this offense is supposed to look like when
it's functioning well. Minimal, but yes, I mean it's certainly
got better. They created an identity starting with the run game.
They were very conservative though. Um, I've been screaming at
(10:02):
the TV for the season now, or really a couple
of years, that they need more deeper in breaking routes.
You know how many post patterns did they even attempt
or digs and things of that nature. And play action
has been making me crazy as well that there's just
very little of it. I understood that Ben was not
a play action guy. Fine, but you've got two quarterbacks
(10:23):
since and you're still at the bottom the league and
play action even when you're running the ball extremely well.
But I thought it was a little less gimmicky as
the season went on a little less desperate with the
jet sweeps and things of that nature. There was a
foundation to build off of, but the route concepts and
those things to me were subpar. All right, I want
(10:43):
to ask about that. I know that you've talked to
other scouts around the league, and we you and I
have had the conversation, Um, Charlie Batch agreed, uh that
this offense has been described as elementary, rudimentary, UM, high
school ish, if you will, highly predictable. How much have
(11:06):
you observed? Was that to keep Kenny Pickett's plate fairly
limited to not overload him or is this you know,
whoever the quarterback is, you know the rot tree concepts
of the route tree concepts. I think it's more of
the latter. I mean, I'm not avoiding the conversation, but
(11:28):
I've been in NFL buildings, I've been in college buildings,
and it's hard to analyze assistant coaches and from from
outside the walls because Tomlin might be telling them this
is how we're gonna play offense. Yes, sir, I'll do
my job. Or Picket might not be getting it, or
Trabisky didn't get it either, or whatever. But we've seen
(11:50):
three quarterbacks now, one of whom should have no mental
problems whatsoever and is going to the Hall of Fame
in a couple of years. With in terms of route
concepts and if lady defenses and it was the same
for all, I mean a huge thing. I'm going to
stress every Friday when we talk Stan until you know
the draft and all those explosive plays, and I feel
(12:13):
like their version of creating explosive plays is run to
go right, run to go route down the sideline, chuck
it up and hope your guy makes play one on one,
which is an easy route to cover for a corner
because he has the sideline. And that's a very predictable thing.
Oh here comes another go route as opposed to Now,
these are the best in the league at it. But
(12:33):
I urge people this weekend to watch the Chiefs and
the Niners and the amount of open receivers that are
created by scheme and route combination because of the coaching.
And that's not taking any thing away from Purdy or Mahomes,
who are on opposite ends of the spectrum, of course,
but they create so much space and easy lay up
(12:55):
type throws that often result in after the catch production
that you ever see from the Steelers. Is that a
result of the design and the concept of the offense.
I think so. I think so. More than anything Um,
when I talk explosive plays, I really think it's personnel coaching.
(13:19):
I think this personnel is just fine. If you gave
this group of pass catchers to Shanahan or Read, they
would be as or close to his explosive I understand
the Niners a better pass catchers and the Steels, don't
get me wrong, but the scheme is not getting the
best out of these guys. There's a lot of routes
where they're stopping their feet coming back to the line
(13:40):
of scrimmage. Well, you're not gonna getting after the catch
with that, you know. I mean, it doesn't mean they
can't be in the playbook, but there's very few route
designs that put safeties and linebackers and conflict, particularly in
the middle of the field. I see very little in
the way of the screen game. I mean, that would
certainly help quite a bit. The lack of play action
and stuff makes me crazy. Um, So I think the
(14:03):
passing game not the run game. I mean, when we
when we talk about the offensive play design, they have
a real good thing going with the run game, and
it's hard to play against, and it is somewhat complex,
and you can throw in some quarterback runs but the
passing game concepts to me are lacklusters at least. Well
that having been said, matt Um, maybe you weren't surprised
(14:24):
that they're bringing Canada back for another year, but were
you disappointed? Yeah, I would not have brought them back.
I mean, so I'll put that out there first and foremost.
But we have to understand what this organization is too.
I mean, they've had great success over the years and
stress continuity more than any team that I can imagine
(14:45):
in any sports. And I think one of the flaws
of the league are moving on from coaches and people
too soon. You know, that's a constant change. This is
not five basketball players you throw out there and they
learned the season goes on, or in starting a new
right fielder that doesn't need continuity with those around them.
Given have eleven guys playing is one, and the coaching
(15:08):
consistency here has been a great strength. And you also
have a second year quarterback. We've seen a lot of
quarterbacks ruined or never given a chance because they have
three coordinators in three years, you know. I mean those
kind of mistakes start with ownership, and I think the
Steelers are wise in that regard. To stick with continuity. Again,
(15:30):
I'm not a fan of the passing game concepts and
as a play caller as a whole, but I also
think that I know you you put this out on
a tweet. I would love to see them get a
passing game coordinator, a special assistant on offense, call them
whatever you want, but someone that's been around the block,
(15:52):
and frankly, not only would he helped the cause, but
if Canada is a mess three weeks into the season,
then you have someone to turn the playbook. Yeah that's
a big question. Um, you know you've made this move.
I mean, we really won't know until September whether or
not that they were limited because they had a rookie
(16:13):
quarterback and purposely maybe coming from Tomlin said like Coward
did with Ken, Wizzenot and Ben his rookie year, they
didn't give him much to do because they didn't want to,
you know, overload him. He wasn't supposed to play. He
came out of school a year early. Um, but we
won't know until September. But I'm glad you're on board,
you know, right given a title, calm whatever you want.
(16:35):
But you know, a veteran guy who has had some success.
Um and and at least say, you know, we're I'm
not here to call plays, but I am here to
revamp the passing game. Yeah, and just have a lot
of influence behind the scenes. Oh, this this is a
fine passing concept you have. What if we tweak it
this way? You know, let's add play action to it
(16:57):
or this motion that we didn't have and move this
line backer three steps tho is left. Oh wow, I
just created a lot more space. Just another set of
eyes has been around the block and has had success
on the offensive side of the ball, particularly with the
passing game, would be something I would still be looking for.
How do you possibly explain the lack of play action? No,
(17:18):
the whole idea this offense was supposedly predicated on the
running games. They could use play action, and they achieved
the running game, but don't seem to be doing the
other half. What's possible explanation for that? Can there be?
That makes no sense to me whatsoever? Because I also
think Pickets and Travisky are very good ball handlers, and
(17:38):
that's something we talked about when they got both players
in the off season, was they're looking for guys that
can move that can handle the ball. Well, that doesn't
sound like a great trait for quarterback, but it certainly
is freezing the defense that type of thing, and they're
not using it, and certainly running the ball as well
as they did in the second half of the season
would lend itself to you know even more you know,
(18:00):
uh power out of that is, you know, using play
action you should be even more of a strength for you.
But they refused to do it at any kind of consistency.
They've been at the bottom of league now for six
or seven years and all through the Canada era. And
I can understand it with Ben, I can't understand it
with the new guys at all. I mean, it's one
of the the cheap codes that offenses have going for
(18:23):
them right now, and they refused to do it. And again,
the thing I'm gonna stress more than anything all offseason
is creating explosive plays. Well, they're like the worst in
the league at it, basically. I mean, I have numbers
at home I could show you. But it's a great
way to create explosive plays a third and one when
you're at midfield and you know you're gonna go for
it on fourth and one. If you don't get it
(18:43):
throwing in the end zone or checking in one take
a shot, you know. I mean there's I feel like
they're so content to just get the first down or
to get the third and short. And to their credit,
their third down offense has been unbelo eviably good, inefficient,
and they've hadn't been able to maintain long drives. Them
(19:05):
in the Chiefs leave the league in terms of long drives,
but it's making it harder than it needs to be.
I mean, you're not gonna hit it third down clips
year after year. I mean, you're not gonna lead the
league next year. You can't count on that now. Plus
the fact that they have long drives which end up
in field goals or missfield, but you don't get in
the end zone. Um. You mentioned the Steelers weapons, and
(19:30):
it would appear that they have enough. Yet there's a
lot of buzz about them using their first round pick
on a wide receiver. Now a lot of that is
because it's Jordan Addison and they think about the relationship
that he had with Pickett. Um, but would you agree
that they've done a good job of finding receivers in
the second and third round and that um, I don't know.
(19:50):
I guess it's following the Jamaar Chase pattern. Uh, you
know re teammates. Um, how valuable is that? How valuable
would that be? Not that he wouldn't be a good
at edition, but do they need that at this point
with Calvin Austin waiting in the wings. Well, I love
the Anthony Miller resigning too. He was very impressive to me.
I think he'll be very much in the mix. Um,
(20:12):
he's a quality slot corner or receiver that was very
impressive at camp. When he got hurt, I kind of
broke my heart a little bit because I thought he
was really set to have a really nice year. So
the foursome now of Johnson, Pickens, Austin Miller, to me
is good enough. It's good enough. But I've also said,
back to Explosion, I want a deep threat. I want
(20:34):
someone that can really run, and I know Austin has
world class speed, but he's never played in an NFL game,
So I get greedy at receiver when I have a
young quarterback, so I want one more. I can't imagine
I condone a first round pick, though, I mean free
agency would have to just fall in their lap to
turn their back on a corner or a d tackle
or an offensive lineman to take a receiver day two. Sure,
(20:59):
if he can really run and take the top off
of defense, I am intrigued, no doubt about it. But
I can't imagine it in around one. And with all
respect to Kenny and Addison, they're not borrowing Chase, you know.
And but we have seen this around the league too.
I mean they got two, have got Waddle. I mean
there's some guys, there's familiarities important this Healers drafted Rudolph
in Washington. I mean, I get the familiarity side of this,
(21:22):
but it wouldn't be a priority for me. Well, let's
look ahead of the weekend. Um, it's really intriguing matchups. Uh,
you know, a couple of division game Eagles and Giants.
What game or games really have piqued your interest and
you're most looking forward to? I think you have to
talk about Bill's Bengals, and of course, unfortunately we were
(21:45):
robbed of seeing them a couple of weeks ago. Um,
I will say though I was higher on the Bills
and Bengals two weeks ago, three weeks ago, you know,
five days ago than I am now. I think some
of their warts are starting to really show up. Not
really the Bengals faults, but they have corner injuries, which
doesn't matter against the Ravens because they don't start to
(22:05):
wide receivers and their their offensive line is down three
starters all of a sudden, you know so, and they
can't run the ball at all. So I think, since
he's a lot weaker now than a couple of weeks ago,
Josh Allen continues to turn the football over and they
didn't play great at all against a really bad Miami teeth.
In my opinion, they have some defensive back injuries as well,
(22:29):
so I don't know that they are as strong as
teams as I thought. But I think it's a very
even matchup that should be an excellent battle. But I
kind of feel like the Chiefs just sort of sat
back this week, got a little healthier, sat on the couch,
relaxed a little bit, and then got the real leg
up on the rest of the n f C Cowboys
forty Niners. Does that intrigue you at all? Absolutely? Absolutely.
(22:52):
I'm not on board with rock Party. I mean, what
he's done is tremendous. I think it's much more about
the addition McCaffrey and the brilliance of Shanahan and a
real pass rush I think can do some damage, you know,
to party. I want to see him really tested with Mike,
the Parsons and those guys. There were two defenses in
wild Card weekend Minnesota and Seattle against the Niners that
(23:16):
I thought were embarrassingly bad. I mean, but there were
no contests for their opponents cards at all. And I'm
wanted one thing. I um, we don't see the quote
lower profile NFC teams on TV here terribly often. I mean,
you know, you see the Cowboys, so you want to
throw up um, but you know the other teams. And
(23:38):
the thing that struck me about the Giants Vikings game was,
you know, the gisors talked to you're looking to get
rid of them, and you we just to bring his
full circle. We talked about the value of coaching. It
seems to me that Josh Allen is definitely a product
of Brian Dable and now we see Daniel Jones. They're
(23:59):
talking about the guy and he he is much better
than I ever thought he could be. I had no
idea could run like that, um lead an offense like
that and that tells me that the common denominator there
is Brian Dable, no question about it. His quarterback development
when you do it more than once, is really telling,
because frankly, I didn't like Alan coming out of school
(24:22):
his rookie year. I thought he was horrendous. I mean
this very poor accuracy. And I do know these guys also,
more than the olden days, go to quarterback gurus over
the summer on their own dollar, that type of thing.
But Daniel Jones was a fifth pick in the draft.
He's a big, strong guy. He's not at Allen's level,
but he's not far off, so you can kind of
see the parallel there. But he had maybe the worst
(24:45):
group of receivers in the league this year to throw too,
and still got his team of the playoffs and it's
still highly productive. It's a real testament to what they've
ball has done there. Yeah, it's anciency how he does
against that Eagles deep sense, which is formidable to say,
I don't think it's gonna go quite as well. No, not, undoubtedly, undoubtedly.
(25:06):
All Right, Matt has always enjoyed the session, enjoy the
weekend's games. We'll be back next Friday to talk about
it once again, thank you Matt. All right, say we'll
see it in our thanks going to Matt Williamson, and
we'll say Matt Canada. We'll give thanks to Matt Canada
if he has a good season coming up, but thanks
to Matt Williamson. Check him out at Williamson NFL. That's
(25:28):
gonna do it for today's Savoan on Seelers podcast. You
get us some Stealers dot com. If you enjoy the content,
please tell your friends and neighbors and all Aden suam
ever that they can get at at Steelers dot com.
Until next time, I'm staning Savan. Thanks for being with
us on savan on Stealers
They have a little bit thing to going with the
run game, and it's hard to play against, and it
is somewhat complex and you're throwing some quarterback runs. But
the packing game concepts to me are black luster told.
This is Saverein on Steelers. Hello to all in Steeler
Nation and welcome to the Sabbagh on Steelers podcast. Thanks
for finding us. Hope you enjoy our Steelers content we
(00:24):
post up twice weekly at Steelers dot com talking about
the Steelers and issues facing them the off season leading
into the season. I also invite you to listen to
my daily radio show on the flagship station, one of
them here in Pittsburgh, ESPN Pittsburgh nine seventy w b
(00:44):
g G A M. I'm on every day from noon
until two Eastern time, and you can get at v
ESPN over the year. If not, you can download the
I Heart Media app. It's free and you can listen
to me that way. If you're noon to twoism can
venient for you or you're out of town, so we
invite you to do that. The Steelers, of course, this
(01:05):
week announced that Matt Canada is coming back as offensive coordinator.
Uh that wasn't unexpected. It doesn't mean that I necessarily
agree with it, uh, I don't. Certainly, the Steelers did
show improvement as the second half of the season war on,
and a lot of that was due to the improvement
of Kenny Pickett, and certainly Matt Canada had a lot
(01:28):
to do with that. But even though they were improving
and the arrow was pointed up, it doesn't mean they're
anywhere close to being good enough. They're far, far, far
far from it. Now maybe that continues in two thousand three.
Um if so, okay, But I look at it and
if they're thinking that they can just stay with the
(01:49):
status quo, not only in personnel but in their their
thought process, I think they're mistaken. They need to get better.
The people that they have need to be better. Pick it,
younger players, even George pick As. We've seen the talenty as,
but there are, you know, certain nuances to playing the
position that have to be learned at some point. But
(02:13):
they also need to add The offensive line did a
nice job jelling together and they got of all the
units got better than any throughout the course of the season.
But that doesn't mean that they're good enough. There's still
a nine and eight football team and so the arrow
pointed up. One of the things that happened with the
offensive line is that none of those guys were injured
(02:35):
for a lengthy period of time, and so they were
able to play together, which is significant when you're talking
about an offensive line in particular. But can you really
count on that happening again? They need better people. That
doesn't mean you have to replace all five on the
offensive line, but you add a really top player, let's
(02:56):
say your number one pick or even your number two pick.
That guy has got to be an improvement. Again, they've
got to shy away from getting stuck with the idea,
well they're the best we have. Well, that's all well
and good, but that only matters and interscried scrimmages. What
(03:17):
matters is how do you stack up against your competition?
How do you stack up against the Ravens of the Bengals,
of the Browns even or ultimately the Chiefs in Buffalo.
That's what they've got to answer. And this offense really
(03:37):
hasn't proven anything yet. It's got some component parts, the quarterback,
both wide receivers, the tight end, and the lead running back,
but yet they still don't score touchdowns. That's the payoff.
Paid dirt is the payoff. They need a lot of improvement. Now,
(04:01):
we won't know until September whether or not the offense
in was limited because they didn't want to load up
Kenny Pickett's plate. It may have been that Mike Tomlins
went to Matt Cannon said, look, we can't give him
(04:22):
too much. Let's take it easy with him and slowly
expand the offense for him. Maybe that was the case.
We should begin to find out when games matter in September.
He should have a larger chunk of the offense at
his disposal. But what if that was the offense with
(04:47):
a few different tweaks. What if that's where we come
to expect dink and dunk. He won deep every once
in a while. That's why I'm advocating, and I think
strongly that the Steelers bring in and give him whatever
name you want, senior offensive assistant, passing game coordinator, whatever
(05:12):
you want to call him, a set of veteran eyes.
We have been other places and have had some success.
Matt Cannon has had no success, none. Zero. Now the
offenses that he commanded both finished over five nine, seven
and one and nine and eight. But still we all
know the offense were very good and frankly one it
(05:36):
had been for Ben Roethlisberger. There's no way there. Nine
seven and one bring in a fresh set of eyes.
Names well, Frank Reich, Byron Leftwich. I know a lot
of people are suggesting that left Which lost his job
in Tampa because he didn't make any changes or addistance
to his offense. Well, two things come to mind. Number on,
(06:00):
I'm sure Tom Brady had a lot to say about that,
and whatever Byron left Which may have wanted to install
in the offense, I guarantee you that Tom Brady had
a great deal to say so as to whether they
did it or not. Number two, as evidence will show,
Todd Balls wanted to bring in his own offensive staff.
(06:22):
This was the blues Arians offensive staff that he inherited
when he took over the job, and he wanted to
bring in his own people on the offensive side of
the ball. Bulls is a defensive guy, but obviously as
relationships with offensive coaches throughout the league, and he wanted
his own personnel to coach the offense. Understandable every head
(06:43):
coach does that, especially now that it may be the
Brady is not coming back. But you're bringing a guy
like that who's had some success, a Frank Reich who's
had some success. He doesn't have to infringe on Matt
Canada's authority, but he can in meetings say, look, what
(07:06):
if we try this, What if we do this, What
if we this week take advantage of this cornerback maybe
something that no one else spotted, experienced set of eyes
and experience with some degree of success. Why not? And then, oh,
by the way, if things go poorly in let's say September,
(07:30):
and the offense looks a lot like it did in
you're a new offensive coordinator. May be already there right
for you. I mean, I don't think you hire guys
like that in mind, but it would be an added
benefit and something that may be needed. I'm not in
favor of the return of Matt Canada. I'm wanting to
(07:50):
give him the benefit of the doubt that the offense
was dumbed down, but the offense had problems in as well.
With a Hall of Fame quarterback, I'm just not sold
on it. But I'm willing to give him a chance.
But I certainly would have a short lease. The problem
is if you don't bring in someone and things do
(08:11):
not go well in September, they can't afford to get
off to a two and six start again, and you
make a move, who do you bring in someone from
the outside in the in early October to install a
new offense doesn't work, But you're bringing a guy who's
(08:31):
been with you at least through O t A S
and trainee camp and the preseason. You have already made
replacement if you need it. But even if you don't,
he could help make Matt Canada a better offensive coordinator
just by offering his expertise. And if you're confident enough
(08:52):
in your abilities, you shouldn't reject that. Look, we had
that same situation with Brian Flores and the defense. Terrell
Austin didn't blink and say, get out of my face,
I don't want to hear what you have to say. No,
he was looking to make the defense as good as
it possibly could be, and the input from Brian Flores
was valuable. The same could be said of an offensive
(09:15):
coordinator like most of us. Matt Williamson of Steelers Nation
Radio and a weekly visitor to my show on ESPN Pittsburgh,
has had his concerns about the offense. He joins us. Now, Uh,
did you see any I don't want to use the
word improvement. Did you see any changes in the Matt
(09:38):
Canada offense with Kenny Pickett as the season progressed down
the line? Um, anything that would give you an idea
of what this offense is supposed to look like when
it's functioning well. Minimal, but yes, I mean it's certainly
got better. They created an identity starting with the run game.
They were very conservative though. Um, I've been screaming at
(10:02):
the TV for the season now, or really a couple
of years, that they need more deeper in breaking routes.
You know how many post patterns did they even attempt
or digs and things of that nature. And play action
has been making me crazy as well that there's just
very little of it. I understood that Ben was not
a play action guy. Fine, but you've got two quarterbacks
(10:23):
since and you're still at the bottom the league and
play action even when you're running the ball extremely well.
But I thought it was a little less gimmicky as
the season went on a little less desperate with the
jet sweeps and things of that nature. There was a
foundation to build off of, but the route concepts and
those things to me were subpar. All right, I want
(10:43):
to ask about that. I know that you've talked to
other scouts around the league, and we you and I
have had the conversation, Um, Charlie Batch agreed, uh that
this offense has been described as elementary, rudimentary, UM, high
school ish, if you will, highly predictable. How much have
(11:06):
you observed? Was that to keep Kenny Pickett's plate fairly
limited to not overload him or is this you know,
whoever the quarterback is, you know the rot tree concepts
of the route tree concepts. I think it's more of
the latter. I mean, I'm not avoiding the conversation, but
(11:28):
I've been in NFL buildings, I've been in college buildings,
and it's hard to analyze assistant coaches and from from
outside the walls because Tomlin might be telling them this
is how we're gonna play offense. Yes, sir, I'll do
my job. Or Picket might not be getting it, or
Trabisky didn't get it either, or whatever. But we've seen
(11:50):
three quarterbacks now, one of whom should have no mental
problems whatsoever and is going to the Hall of Fame
in a couple of years. With in terms of route
concepts and if lady defenses and it was the same
for all, I mean a huge thing. I'm going to
stress every Friday when we talk Stan until you know
the draft and all those explosive plays, and I feel
(12:13):
like their version of creating explosive plays is run to
go right, run to go route down the sideline, chuck
it up and hope your guy makes play one on one,
which is an easy route to cover for a corner
because he has the sideline. And that's a very predictable thing.
Oh here comes another go route as opposed to Now,
these are the best in the league at it. But
(12:33):
I urge people this weekend to watch the Chiefs and
the Niners and the amount of open receivers that are
created by scheme and route combination because of the coaching.
And that's not taking any thing away from Purdy or Mahomes,
who are on opposite ends of the spectrum, of course,
but they create so much space and easy lay up
(12:55):
type throws that often result in after the catch production
that you ever see from the Steelers. Is that a
result of the design and the concept of the offense.
I think so. I think so. More than anything Um,
when I talk explosive plays, I really think it's personnel coaching.
(13:19):
I think this personnel is just fine. If you gave
this group of pass catchers to Shanahan or Read, they
would be as or close to his explosive I understand
the Niners a better pass catchers and the Steels, don't
get me wrong, but the scheme is not getting the
best out of these guys. There's a lot of routes
where they're stopping their feet coming back to the line
(13:40):
of scrimmage. Well, you're not gonna getting after the catch
with that, you know. I mean, it doesn't mean they
can't be in the playbook, but there's very few route
designs that put safeties and linebackers and conflict, particularly in
the middle of the field. I see very little in
the way of the screen game. I mean, that would
certainly help quite a bit. The lack of play action
and stuff makes me crazy. Um, So I think the
(14:03):
passing game not the run game. I mean, when we
when we talk about the offensive play design, they have
a real good thing going with the run game, and
it's hard to play against, and it is somewhat complex,
and you can throw in some quarterback runs but the
passing game concepts to me are lacklusters at least. Well
that having been said, matt Um, maybe you weren't surprised
(14:24):
that they're bringing Canada back for another year, but were
you disappointed? Yeah, I would not have brought them back.
I mean, so I'll put that out there first and foremost.
But we have to understand what this organization is too.
I mean, they've had great success over the years and
stress continuity more than any team that I can imagine
(14:45):
in any sports. And I think one of the flaws
of the league are moving on from coaches and people
too soon. You know, that's a constant change. This is
not five basketball players you throw out there and they
learned the season goes on, or in starting a new
right fielder that doesn't need continuity with those around them.
Given have eleven guys playing is one, and the coaching
(15:08):
consistency here has been a great strength. And you also
have a second year quarterback. We've seen a lot of
quarterbacks ruined or never given a chance because they have
three coordinators in three years, you know. I mean those
kind of mistakes start with ownership, and I think the
Steelers are wise in that regard. To stick with continuity. Again,
(15:30):
I'm not a fan of the passing game concepts and
as a play caller as a whole, but I also
think that I know you you put this out on
a tweet. I would love to see them get a
passing game coordinator, a special assistant on offense, call them
whatever you want, but someone that's been around the block,
(15:52):
and frankly, not only would he helped the cause, but
if Canada is a mess three weeks into the season,
then you have someone to turn the playbook. Yeah that's
a big question. Um, you know you've made this move.
I mean, we really won't know until September whether or
not that they were limited because they had a rookie
(16:13):
quarterback and purposely maybe coming from Tomlin said like Coward
did with Ken, Wizzenot and Ben his rookie year, they
didn't give him much to do because they didn't want to,
you know, overload him. He wasn't supposed to play. He
came out of school a year early. Um, but we
won't know until September. But I'm glad you're on board,
you know, right given a title, calm whatever you want.
(16:35):
But you know, a veteran guy who has had some success.
Um and and at least say, you know, we're I'm
not here to call plays, but I am here to
revamp the passing game. Yeah, and just have a lot
of influence behind the scenes. Oh, this this is a
fine passing concept you have. What if we tweak it
this way? You know, let's add play action to it
(16:57):
or this motion that we didn't have and move this
line backer three steps tho is left. Oh wow, I
just created a lot more space. Just another set of
eyes has been around the block and has had success
on the offensive side of the ball, particularly with the
passing game, would be something I would still be looking for.
How do you possibly explain the lack of play action? No,
(17:18):
the whole idea this offense was supposedly predicated on the
running games. They could use play action, and they achieved
the running game, but don't seem to be doing the
other half. What's possible explanation for that? Can there be?
That makes no sense to me whatsoever? Because I also
think Pickets and Travisky are very good ball handlers, and
(17:38):
that's something we talked about when they got both players
in the off season, was they're looking for guys that
can move that can handle the ball. Well, that doesn't
sound like a great trait for quarterback, but it certainly
is freezing the defense that type of thing, and they're
not using it, and certainly running the ball as well
as they did in the second half of the season
would lend itself to you know even more you know,
(18:00):
uh power out of that is, you know, using play
action you should be even more of a strength for you.
But they refused to do it at any kind of consistency.
They've been at the bottom of league now for six
or seven years and all through the Canada era. And
I can understand it with Ben, I can't understand it
with the new guys at all. I mean, it's one
of the the cheap codes that offenses have going for
(18:23):
them right now, and they refused to do it. And again,
the thing I'm gonna stress more than anything all offseason
is creating explosive plays. Well, they're like the worst in
the league at it, basically. I mean, I have numbers
at home I could show you. But it's a great
way to create explosive plays a third and one when
you're at midfield and you know you're gonna go for
it on fourth and one. If you don't get it
(18:43):
throwing in the end zone or checking in one take
a shot, you know. I mean there's I feel like
they're so content to just get the first down or
to get the third and short. And to their credit,
their third down offense has been unbelo eviably good, inefficient,
and they've hadn't been able to maintain long drives. Them
(19:05):
in the Chiefs leave the league in terms of long drives,
but it's making it harder than it needs to be.
I mean, you're not gonna hit it third down clips
year after year. I mean, you're not gonna lead the
league next year. You can't count on that now. Plus
the fact that they have long drives which end up
in field goals or missfield, but you don't get in
the end zone. Um. You mentioned the Steelers weapons, and
(19:30):
it would appear that they have enough. Yet there's a
lot of buzz about them using their first round pick
on a wide receiver. Now a lot of that is
because it's Jordan Addison and they think about the relationship
that he had with Pickett. Um, but would you agree
that they've done a good job of finding receivers in
the second and third round and that um, I don't know.
(19:50):
I guess it's following the Jamaar Chase pattern. Uh, you
know re teammates. Um, how valuable is that? How valuable
would that be? Not that he wouldn't be a good
at edition, but do they need that at this point
with Calvin Austin waiting in the wings. Well, I love
the Anthony Miller resigning too. He was very impressive to me.
I think he'll be very much in the mix. Um,
(20:12):
he's a quality slot corner or receiver that was very
impressive at camp. When he got hurt, I kind of
broke my heart a little bit because I thought he
was really set to have a really nice year. So
the foursome now of Johnson, Pickens, Austin Miller, to me
is good enough. It's good enough. But I've also said,
back to Explosion, I want a deep threat. I want
(20:34):
someone that can really run, and I know Austin has
world class speed, but he's never played in an NFL game,
So I get greedy at receiver when I have a
young quarterback, so I want one more. I can't imagine
I condone a first round pick, though, I mean free
agency would have to just fall in their lap to
turn their back on a corner or a d tackle
or an offensive lineman to take a receiver day two. Sure,
(20:59):
if he can really run and take the top off
of defense, I am intrigued, no doubt about it. But
I can't imagine it in around one. And with all
respect to Kenny and Addison, they're not borrowing Chase, you know.
And but we have seen this around the league too.
I mean they got two, have got Waddle. I mean
there's some guys, there's familiarities important this Healers drafted Rudolph
in Washington. I mean, I get the familiarity side of this,
(21:22):
but it wouldn't be a priority for me. Well, let's
look ahead of the weekend. Um, it's really intriguing matchups. Uh,
you know, a couple of division game Eagles and Giants.
What game or games really have piqued your interest and
you're most looking forward to? I think you have to
talk about Bill's Bengals, and of course, unfortunately we were
(21:45):
robbed of seeing them a couple of weeks ago. Um,
I will say though I was higher on the Bills
and Bengals two weeks ago, three weeks ago, you know,
five days ago than I am now. I think some
of their warts are starting to really show up. Not
really the Bengals faults, but they have corner injuries, which
doesn't matter against the Ravens because they don't start to
(22:05):
wide receivers and their their offensive line is down three
starters all of a sudden, you know so, and they
can't run the ball at all. So I think, since
he's a lot weaker now than a couple of weeks ago,
Josh Allen continues to turn the football over and they
didn't play great at all against a really bad Miami teeth.
In my opinion, they have some defensive back injuries as well,
(22:29):
so I don't know that they are as strong as
teams as I thought. But I think it's a very
even matchup that should be an excellent battle. But I
kind of feel like the Chiefs just sort of sat
back this week, got a little healthier, sat on the couch,
relaxed a little bit, and then got the real leg
up on the rest of the n f C Cowboys
forty Niners. Does that intrigue you at all? Absolutely? Absolutely.
(22:52):
I'm not on board with rock Party. I mean, what
he's done is tremendous. I think it's much more about
the addition McCaffrey and the brilliance of Shanahan and a
real pass rush I think can do some damage, you know,
to party. I want to see him really tested with Mike,
the Parsons and those guys. There were two defenses in
wild Card weekend Minnesota and Seattle against the Niners that
(23:16):
I thought were embarrassingly bad. I mean, but there were
no contests for their opponents cards at all. And I'm
wanted one thing. I um, we don't see the quote
lower profile NFC teams on TV here terribly often. I mean,
you know, you see the Cowboys, so you want to
throw up um, but you know the other teams. And
(23:38):
the thing that struck me about the Giants Vikings game was,
you know, the gisors talked to you're looking to get
rid of them, and you we just to bring his
full circle. We talked about the value of coaching. It
seems to me that Josh Allen is definitely a product
of Brian Dable and now we see Daniel Jones. They're
(23:59):
talking about the guy and he he is much better
than I ever thought he could be. I had no
idea could run like that, um lead an offense like
that and that tells me that the common denominator there
is Brian Dable, no question about it. His quarterback development
when you do it more than once, is really telling,
because frankly, I didn't like Alan coming out of school
(24:22):
his rookie year. I thought he was horrendous. I mean
this very poor accuracy. And I do know these guys also,
more than the olden days, go to quarterback gurus over
the summer on their own dollar, that type of thing.
But Daniel Jones was a fifth pick in the draft.
He's a big, strong guy. He's not at Allen's level,
but he's not far off, so you can kind of
see the parallel there. But he had maybe the worst
(24:45):
group of receivers in the league this year to throw too,
and still got his team of the playoffs and it's
still highly productive. It's a real testament to what they've
ball has done there. Yeah, it's anciency how he does
against that Eagles deep sense, which is formidable to say,
I don't think it's gonna go quite as well. No, not, undoubtedly, undoubtedly.
(25:06):
All Right, Matt has always enjoyed the session, enjoy the
weekend's games. We'll be back next Friday to talk about
it once again, thank you Matt. All right, say we'll
see it in our thanks going to Matt Williamson, and
we'll say Matt Canada. We'll give thanks to Matt Canada
if he has a good season coming up, but thanks
to Matt Williamson. Check him out at Williamson NFL. That's
(25:28):
gonna do it for today's Savoan on Seelers podcast. You
get us some Stealers dot com. If you enjoy the content,
please tell your friends and neighbors and all Aden suam
ever that they can get at at Steelers dot com.
Until next time, I'm staning Savan. Thanks for being with
us on savan on Stealers
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