Why the Standard are so low for the steelers now?

Now look at what he actually said in context. They are following the plan and doing what the organization has done for decades. I don't agree with it in this case. Canada's resume wasn't all that good when they hired him, but he's doing what they've always done and if you don't know that, you haven't been paying attention to the path that led the Steelers from being the worst organization in the league to one that has six Lombardi Trophies.

 

That's not a plan. They've fired assistants before. So what's different now? Canada's offense was bottom of the league for most of the season - that's doing what the Steelers have always done? your not making any sense. the team improved a little over the season so instead of finishing bottom of the league they finished in the bottom eight - against mediocre competition. To call that improvement is a bit of a stretch and just a lazy assessment. Anyone on the ground or watching actively would know most of that was KP and the line improving and not that Canada's play design was getting better. ARII is just not being proactive here.

Keeping incapable assistants is not the way the Steelers won 6 Lombardi's. I don't know where you dug that up from.

 

If I remember correctly, the last time they fired an assistant was 2003.

When they sign a coach to a contract, they almost always give him the length of his contract to show whether or not he deserves another one. That is what they have always done. Refusing to panic and turn into the Browns is what they have always done, or at least since the '70s.

I'm making perfect sense. You, on the other hand, are relying on logical fallacies. By your logic, everything that goes well is the players, but everything that goes wrong is the fault of the offensive coordinator. The truth is that it is both. Poor performances by the line and quarterbacks and the injury to Harris were also factors in the offense sucking the first half of the season.

Don't get me wrong. I want Canada gone, too. I thought it was a terrible idea to give him the job in the first place. Nothing in his resume suggests that he deserved it. I think he did a poor job the last two seasons and I've pointed out that one of the main things LSU did to make Joe Burrow's Heisman Trophy season a possibility was firing Canada after only one season as their OC.

That said, not realizing that Canada's play-calling also improved as the players came around is a truly lazy assessment. Not understanding that staying the course rather than panicking is how the Steelers won six Super Bowls. Giving Canada one more season is absolutely in line with what they have done for about 50 years. Sometimes, that has been to their detriment. I think this is one of those times, but to say it isn't a plan or it isn't what the Steelers do just makes you look foolish.

 

So you admit they've fired assistants before. Have you ever worked in corporate? lol, that isn't a plan, its a stubborn present philosophy. And terminating the contract of an OC that had his team bottom of the league in total offense is not panicking, its called logic and common sense.

If your honest for once, you'll admit there hasn't been much evidence at all that the incremental improvement was due to Canada's scheme and you'll realize it was mostly the players that improved.

1. Run blocking improved; i'll give Meyers credit for that.
2. Najee stopped hesitating and became more decisive hitting the holes. That's not scheme.
2. KP took better care of the ball and the game slowed down for him. That's not scheme.
3. Receivers still had trouble getting separation; guys were rarely wide open - that's poor route running patterns - DJ and GP are not slow.
4. Red zone efficiency (TD's) is still bottom in the league - that speaks to the weakness of the playcalling and scheme. The TD pass to Najee (that was KP's call).
5. Still no play action in spite of poor red zone efficiency.

So were not panicking because were waiting one more year on an OC that is clearly below par just so he can finish out the last season of his contract? And we can stay true to the Steeler way? Are you kidding? That's being inflexible and cheap and like i said not proactive.

 

I'm sorry. You needed more detail to understand. Despite your attitude, I will try to help you out.

The plan was to allow Canada to develop a run-based offense that would fit with what Tomlin wanted as they transitioned away from Roethlisberger, then diversify as the very young group gained experience. This was fairly obvious, but apparently, you missed it.

They entered last season with a young, shaky offensive line, a new quarterback, a second-year running back, a second-year tight end, and a rookie receiver stepping into a prominent role. The new quarterback failed, forcing them to turn to a rookie sooner than they wanted. Also, their primary running back was hurt and nowhere near 100 percent in the first half of the season. All those negatives, some of which even you noticed, were factors in the offense being terrible the first half of the season.

See, what you aren't getting is that 2022 was a transitional season. They are still building the offensive line. They are also developing a young quarterback. The Steelers understand this and know enough not to panic because the result was a terrible offense in the first half of the season and a mediocre one after the bye. You want them to panic and abandon their plan, which would be abandoning the philosophy they have followed while winning six Super Bowls. It was the philosophy that led them to stick with Bill Cowher through enough rough times to win one Super Bowl with him as coach and another with much of the core of the team he built, but yeah, in your mind impatience is the way to go.

Now let's look at your list.

1. Yes, the run blocking got better, so the scheme for running the ball started to work. Canada isn't a good offensive coordinator. He doesn't do enough in the passing game, but his schemes for running the ball work.
2. Harris got healthy and got back to the running style from the previous season. Again, you want to ignore that his problems the first half of the season weren't scheme, either.
3. (I'm not going to list 2 twice the way you did.) Pickett taking care of the ball was a function of a change in offensive approach. They stopped having him throw it 50 times, turning to a more conservative approach that started to work better when the running game improved. You missed it, but that was a matter of scheme.
4. Johnson gets separation because he runs routes well. So does Freiermuth, relatively speaking. Pickens does not. He needs to improve in that area. Yes, they do need to do more to get the receivers open, but outside of Johnson, the players are part of the problem there.
5. The red zone thing is what I was talking about above, how you want to give credit for improvements to the players, but problems go on the coaching. It is angry fanboy thinking.
6. The lack of play-action is a problem. Pickett struggled when he did throw play-action passes this season. I'm wondering if he's just not comfortable trusting the line to give him the time to make it work or if it is the scheme. Maybe it is a bit of both? See, unlike you, I'm open to all possibilities.

Now seriously, please stop posting this nonsense so I don't have to post things that seem as if I'm defending Canada. He's bad at his job, but not nearly as bad as your claim that they don't have a plan or that they aren't doing exactly the sort of thing the Steelers did to win six Super Bowls.

 

you honestly sound like you’ve never played the game.

1. run blocking got better cause the footwork and technique got better. That’s a credit to Meyer if anything.
2. Harris got better cause he wasn’t hesitating and he’s actually looking were the holes are. His vision was pretty bad early in the season.
3. So here you’re contradicting yourself, you say they were going to start with running then diversify. But then on point 3 they have Pickett throw 50 times. Either your head is scrambled or Canada doesn’t know what he’s doing. I’ll take both of the above.
4. DJ is not getting separation. He’s in tight coverage but KP is threading the needle on his passes, same with PF. Rarely do you see guys wide open.

yeah, damn right I’m giving credit to the players (and Meyer) and some to Tomlin for keeping the team together. But Canada? No, I think he benefitted from the people above.

I think the only nonsense is coming from you. Same as the other thread where you insisted that Canada never wanted or asked for a mobile QB. Same BS packaged in your pompous in accurate writing ups

 

I'm looking at all of the information and approaching things with an open mind. You are starting with the assumption that Canada is the source of all of the offense's ills, then trying to manipulate the facts to fit your assumption.

1. You keep missing the point. The growth of the running game showed that the scheme wasn't the problem there. The line had to get better and it did.
2. Harris was off because he was hurt early in the season. He had a steel plate in his shoe until mid-October. You do realize players trying to work through an injury can often be hesitant, right? How do you not realize that and question if someone else ever played the game?
3. I'm not contradicting myself at all. I'm explaining to you what they did to help Pickett protect the ball better. They tried to run the full offense with him and it didn't work. He wasn't ready to be throwing the ball that much. They had to simplify things, and take a step back with him before moving forward. The lack of a running game had forced them into doing things they didn't want to do.
4. I guess you don't understand the difference between college open and NFL open. You think because Johnson isn't college open, he's not getting separation. Again, you should understand this before you question the knowledge of others.

I do believe I asked for evidence that Canada asked for a mobile quarterback. Nobody here was able to present it. I even went looking and only found him saying he can run his offense with any sort of quarterback, mobile or not.

Again, I don't think he should have been promoted to OC. I don't think he's doing a good job. I also know you are wrong in suggesting that there is no plan or that failing to fire Canada somehow flies in the face of the approach the Steelers used to win six Super Bowls. It doesn't. They believed he was the right guy to lead the offense through the transition from Roethlisberger. Unlike you, they realize that 2022 was a transitional year. They understand that the line took time to come together and it still has flaws. They understood that Harris was hurt half the season. They understood that Trubisky wasn't good and Pickett was a rookie who got stuck learning on the job.

I'm not saying that I agree with the plan. i don't. I'm one of the posters who has been calling for Canada to go, but I also understand how the Steelers operate. You clearly do not.

 

But we had another winning season!

 

Didn't want to quote your whole post as it was long. I don't disagree with any of that, but I'll say that's where some perspective needs to come in.

It's not that we haven't won a SB that bothers me. It's hard to win championships. It's the talent level we have had over the years and how we have lost that bothers me. Some of those playoff losses are a result of going against a better team. That happens, although you do hope to have some upsets from time to time. But Tebow, Bortles, Mayfield, more or less losing to AJ McCarron, etc.

We haven't been a mediocre team with a lack of talent over the years. We have had some very talented rosters over the years, but it seems we find ways of beating ourselves when it really matters. We don't rise to the occasion.

 

I would gladly go into a full rebuild in 2024 if it meant a SB this year. The whole point is championships, not to be competitive every year. Do you think Rams fans cared about next year when they were celebrating a Superbowl win?

 

How do you think Cam feels? Tomlin and company can’t build a championship team to save their life… poor Heyward

 

Maybe Heyward should step up his play in the playoffs .

 

What Rams fans???

 

He does understand how Steelers operate. He's saying they operate in a lazy, not proactive way - and he's right.

If Canada wasn't even qualified to be hired in the first place, as you pointed out, then he should be let go immediately. It's lazy and not proactive to let a coach who isn't qualified to be a coach, remain a coach.

 

I'm not missing anything you are. Canada's scheme has not improved. KP's play has. the running game improved because the run blocking got better (principally Daniels, Okorafor, even Moore). That had nothing to do with Canada still calling ****ty short pass plays on 3rd and long. KP began to put together good game saving drives by scrambling and making something out of nothing.

For a guy who purports to know alot about the game you sure are missing alot of obvious things. Like our receiver's rarely get good separation, your not understanding that point or your ignoring it to try to win an argument.

Harris had a minor foot injury in week 1 and carried 15 times the next week. He had an abdominal strain later in the season; that's not something that would cause him to hesitate on his runs. That was because the line blocking was bad early in the season and he began to second guess himself and missed holes even when they were there. If you watched the games you would notice that. His confidence grew and the blocking got better, maybe Warren's more decisive running rubbed off on him too.

As far as Canada, its all over the internet that his 'system' requires mobility in his QB. If you can't find that in your google searches then you've got problems. As far as Canada, he talks out of both sides of his mouth:

in a 2021 interview trying to justify his lousy system with Ben as the QB

quote 1 "We don't need a mobile quarterback"
quote 2 "Ben's mobile"

By retaining Canada I know how the Steelers are operating - and its not good.

keep it coming.

 

Just because we disagree with the plan doesn't make it lazy. The blinding hatred toward Rooney and Tomlin on this board really cracks me up sometimes.

 

Refusing to be blinded by anger the way you are doesn't mean I'm missing something. It means I see things more clearly than you do.

I never said the receivers get separation often enough. Johnson does. Freiermuth is good in that area, too. The others don't do it consistently enough, but really, they are very thin at wide receiver. Pickens is a fantastic talent, but he's got a long way to go in terms of running routes. Sims made a few plays, but really, he shouldn't be more than a fourth or fifth receiver.

Harris did not have a minor foot injury. He played through a significant injury that hindered his play until mid-October. How did you not know that? Injuries can cause players to hesitate. Again, that's something you should know but don't. Yes, the poor blocking up front was part of it, too, but I don't understand how any Steelers fan has such an inaccurate understanding of the injury that slowed Harris for a big chunk of the season.

Warren's running rubbed off on Harris? You're funny. I guess you also missed Harris's rookie year and his college career.

Funny how that bit about Canada is all over the internet, yet you can't provide a single link to support your claim. What is all over the internet is speculation from people like you who don't know what you are talking about. If you had actual evidence, you would have posted it by now.

Pickett definitely got better, but you are still relying heavily on logical fallacies to support your claims. You are ignoring that Pickett was missing open receivers even in the final few games. He came a long way as a rookie and certainly showed enough to provide hope that he's the long-term answer at quarterback, but he also left points on the field.

To sum up, you are factually wrong about Harris's foot injury and you can't back up your claims regarding Canada and mobile quarterbacks. Just those errors alone make it impossible to see your opinions as valid.

 

Rooney is a business man. He is not going to pay someone to sit on the couch. You play out the contract.

He was quite vocal on the red zone efficiency, scoring more points.

Showing promise to end the season on a high note saved the happy trickster.

If playoffs are not in the cards and offensive improvement Canada will not be back after the 23 season.

Also he was mum on a Tomlin extension.

I believe he wants to see more...

 

Meh

That is something they have looked at in July it is now January

I think that is all

 

SMH

 

I think it’s been mentioned already, but this thread has echoes of the legendary duct tape debate of 2015.

http://thesteelersfans.com/forums/threads/steelers-are-cheap.11433/