Why the Steelers Fired Matt Canada | The Play Sheet

The Ringer’s Ben Solak breaks down the 2023 Steelers' inept, predictable offense, to help understand why a change was needed at offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh. The rest of the team isn't off the hook, though, with Kenny Pickett missing reads and struggling to find chemistry with his receivers. Could the Steelers back up their winning record and make a playoff run, or will Canada's absence change little for their maligned offense? Watch 'The Play Sheet' on KZbin or Spotify every Wednesday at 8 a.m. PT.
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[@ryanmalinoski4274]

Welp. Big Steeler fan here. Have to admit this is a systematic and entertaining dismantling of an NFL coach. Well done.

[@deadboyzX8]

imagine what nfl defensive coordinators are doing. its been painful being a steelers fans with matt as the o.c.

[@iancormick2854]

As a Steelers fan, this was very cathartic, to watch Ben losing his mind over the play design of our offense

[@Xanthedanman]

yeah our offense makes zero sense, and its hurting Kenny's development. Big Ben on alot of those plays would have dropped deeper and said screw the primary receiver, hitting a pass up the middle for 10-15 yards at a time.

[@alongcoh]

The fact that a KZbin channel can easily pick apart an NFL offense and point out all the flaws tells me everything I need to know about Matt Canada and his play calling. If KZbin analysts are able to find the weak points, imagine how teams were able to adjust. I think a majority of the losses from the Steelers this season were due to the fact that their offense was so predictable and simple that teams were just easily able to exploit it. I feel for him as a person and human being, as I have heard nothing but good things about him, but a job is a job and in the NFL it's no different. I think he was given a lot of grace by the organization just to make it this far. Now the pressure really is on KP.

[@2kolbe010]

Matt canada has been a headache since his college days. He was ran out of LSU in 2018 for reasons that will blow your mind.

[@BiggusJakeus]

@@2kolbe010I’m ready to have my mind blown

[@fyukfy2366]

​@@BiggusJakeus you'll never catch me defending matt Canada but anyone can pick apart an offense and point out it's weaknesses after the fact with all the different angles and playing back at a quarter the speed. The question can the offense fool the defense *before* the snap which matt Canada never was able to do

[@EastsideCrazy]

@@fyukfy2366I was calling the plays on the tv. Matt Canada is one of the worst ocs in NFL History.

[@21Kolb]

@@BiggusJakeus sorry for the late reply, but matt canada has a very bad attitude and it has moved over to the highest level. He does not take advice nor does he change. He is a very odd individual that lost his job because he was in over his head. Now my steelers have arthur smith who is significantly better than canada

[@bielzenef]

It's great that charities such as Mothers Against Canada can still reach their objectives after all these years!

[@andersonhunt8617]

Browns fan here, was really disappointed to see them come to their senses and let Canada go. Was hoping he would stay in Pittsburgh for the next 20 years

[@artreyes9032]

Yup keep dreaming you guys only been beating jv Steelers offense

[@Amb252]

Keep dreaming brownie

[@jonahmcclaine1635]

@@artreyes9032y’all didn’t beat the browns when they were missing the 5 most important players on their offense

[@EastsideCrazy]

The fact we beat y’all with him as our oc is crazy.

[@MyEnemy]

14:34 - "I don't even wanna... draw the concept for ya." 🤣

[@painguinn]

Once again I find myself completely and utterly bricked up. Well done Ben.

[@juliankauffman5134]

I love when Solak gets so frustrated he rubs his eyebrows

[@enriquemontalvo2818]

This is the best break down of the Canada offense I’ve seen anywhere

[@tuffr2]

I remember Big Ben was not good under Matt Canada. I expect Kenny to do better with a better OC.

[@bbabins45]

I'd watch a 60 minute version of this show every day.

[@RobertGratz-os5zg]

One of the biggest crimes about this offense is......they don't throw to the middle of the field.

[@JGF90]

"do something"!!! Lol I felt that

[@augustaborn9034]

This is the happiest of ive ever been on a Steelers coach leaving the team

[@IxXDOMINATORXxI]

Nothing i hated more from the Canada offense than the philosophy of "Oh it's 2nd and 10, let's run it to the side or throw it short."

[@McDeathCraft]

Give this guy the OC job next year

[@trvshady]

The problem with most of the things that Kenny is doing wrong is that they should be easily fixable for the most part. Like watch the film, tell him to do this instead of that. Done deal. But it feels like either Kenny is not listening/understanding (doubtful).. or Kenny is doing exactly what he is being told to do and what he is being told to do makes zero sense.

[@lfhlaw]

It takes time to learn the defenses and read coverages as defensive coordinators try to disguise them similar what the Steelers try. Each team has their own scheme to look at and read and multiple attacks from a similar formation… is it blitz or not from this formation? From what I’ve read in College there aren’t as many defensive packages for college teams in comparison to the NFL.

[@kenbourekas420]

Man, I thought my blood pressure was high before I started watching this. This is absolutely infuriating to watch. Why did it take so long to kick this man to the street? I straight blame that on hardheaded stubborn, Mike Tomlin, not wanting to admit his failure right along with dealing with Kendrick Green debacle.

[@letanefonoti3]

Every reporter I've heard speak about this says that it was the Rooney's who wanted to keep Canada. They thought that switching a coordinator this soon in Pickett's career would hinder his growth. It was Mike Tomlin who finally convinced them to can Matt Canada.

[@choosecarefully408]

@@letanefonoti3 I want to believe this because it makes sense _and_ appeals to me. I don't think most people realize that most NFL team owners do Not Know what makes a team win or what makes a good coach. & you know what humans do when forced to deal with something they don't know or understand? They either avoid it & become really hands-off (Bears, Jags) with the team &/or hire who they like as coaches. & once you make _that_ mistake, you also find you need to make up reasons to defend your decision. Vicious circle completed right at the outset. Also, not specific to the Steelers but team owners are business owners. Their "familiar" is business. So they often regard players as employees & coaches as supervisors to suppress them. This is why the player-friendly Rich Bisacchia got pushed out for the moron Josh McD. Simply his persona registered as appropriate to the business acumen part of Mark Davis' psyche. Same with everyone ever hired by the Chargers. I don't see hiring Harbaugh as actually changing this. He's a tyrannical coach.

[@untexan]

The hilarious thing about this - any college football fan could have told you right away that Matt Canada was an absolutely terrible hire. And yet it took two and a half years for the Steelers to figure that out.

[@Fender178]

And What's pathetic is that ever Since Matt Canada was the OC of the Steelers they never had over 400 yards of total offense.

[@CAG0629]

This is well explained & done. 👍However, you did omit the proverbial elephant in the room that the Steelers’ Offensive Line is especially bad in pass protection, specifically LT Dan Moore Jr & C Mason Cole. Consistently allowing pressure up the middle and from the blindside is a recipe for disaster and for a young QB to develop bad habits, like bailing from the pocket at the first sign of pressure. Matt Canada was very poor at self-scouting and play calling & design and unquestionably had to go. But the second coming of Bill Walsh would have difficulty coordinating an effective offensive with turnstiles Moore Jr & Cole on the OLine.

[@Reilly5]

Watching this run play in slow motion, It would have been a great read option for a QB run in the first attempt, or having the RB run the opposite side. Both had huge holes in the center of the formation and a mismatch on the left side. BUT, this is a perfect example of running plays that don't match your personnel or what the defense is showing.

[@dash4800]

I don't follow the Steelers but a lot of these problems seem similar to what the Bucs issues were last year with Leftwich. They spam the same predictable plays over and over and just expect their guys to make everyone miss and run 10 yards for the first down. For Leftwich it was screens constantly, especially on long yardage situations. 3rd and 8 you always knew it was a screen to Godwin. For Canada it looks like the rb in the flat is his go to play when he doesnt know what to do and just hopes someone makes a play. Whenever I see teams spam 1 yard plays that require players to break multiple tackles its just a sign to me that they don't have a clue of how to properly attack defenses. More evidence of this to me is the fact that the Bucs under Leftwich also struggled to attack the middle of the field. Its like he didn't know how to scheme for it or recognize when its available. Same issue here with Canada.

[@Fender178]

And reminds me of the Giants and Jets now and the Jets Have Hackett as their OC which goes to show you that the reason why he was a good OC in Green Bay was because of Aaron Rogers and the same thing applies to Josh McDaniels because he was the OC of the Rams in 2011 after he was fired from the Denver HC and they finished 2-14 which means the reason why he was a successful OC in the NFL was because of Tom Brady. The problem with the Giants earlier in the season was Daniel Jones because he fell back down to Earth/reality because he is back to his crappy self and it took them a while to score a 1st half TD which was done by the Defense and now the Giants haven't improved after Jones was lost to injury.

[@glyle2504]

I need an elite veteran QB like Ben to watch game tape with Kenny, because he even on some of these bad plays there’s options to throw it to. Just because you have the guy who the play is drawn for doesn’t mean you miss the thing that happened.

[@cfeegs]

Yes but if you’re first two reads are covered its not easy to get to your third when the Oline is as bad as it is

[@glyle2504]

@@cfeegs Third read? Sure, I’ll give you that. But if your play has a post and a midfield cross-how do you focus on the post so much that you just *DON’T* look at the cross at all??? Mind you, the coverage on the play should tell you the post isn’t going to work. And when you don’t see it open, you should see the wide open Deontay Johnson right underneath that post route. No matter what the O-line is doing. You should’ve seen it developing the entire time because the only two guys in the part of the field where the cross happens were playing man.

[@MiaQuacko]

This is the best ran franchise in the history of the NFL .. so good indeed, this maybe the only 6-4 team (with a winning record each of their last however many seasons) that fires a coach mid season .. as a Browns fan .. we be 6-4 and that coach prolly gets a statue 😂😂😂

[@MyEnemy]

🤣🤣🤣

[@johnjperricone7856]

As always, great job, Ben.

[@Standgedicht]

Nice breakdown! Should be watch by every "Kenny is the main problem" fan with ESPN knowledge.

[@gvttz]

Honestly lol, they blame Kenny for the schemes we run

[@Standgedicht]

@@gvttz All his fault. Even the running game when Canada used Allen Robinson as lead blocker multiple times.

[@gvttz]

@@Standgedicht and twice in a row for that matter lmao, at least use a fullback or just put jaylen warren in too

[@Amb252]

Kenny pickett is part of the blame we need to get a better qb

[@alexm2889]

​@@Amb252I think this guy put it perfectly. Kenny is a problem, but that's because the coaching and scheme have been so bad. You can screw up any young qb by putting them in bad situations. Let's see of a better situation can help him improve after all Tomlin and Canada have done to give him bad habits and kill his confidence.

[@blommen]

Whew! Love a jumbo-sided playsheet

[@shibity]

"RUN THIS" 🤣Sums up how we've all been feeling

[@vdiaz123]

Is this your application for the new OC coordinator vacancy Ben? Cause it looks great!

[@ShOrt_RoUnD]

12:04 JT O’Sullivan just threw up

[@ChaoticEndeavors412]

It's truly amazing isn't it? Some youtube dude i just stumbled upon knows more that Matt Canada does

[@tellmechris88]

Absolutely great breakdown on this Steelers horrible offense! You just explained perfectly how pretty much most of us see what was wrong with this offense....thank you!!!!!

[@Cool-Lake]

Spectacular analysis! Ya got a new subscriber here.

[@alonzo9mg]

How does Mike Tomlin not see this!?!??!

[@2kolbe010]

He see’s it

[@alexm2889]

This is the biggest head scratcher for me. Either it's complete incompetence or willfully destroying the team. I'm not sure which is worse...

[@mattjustin3596]

That Bos clip is from last season

[@benisaiah6974]

Extremely well explained.

[@jonathanharvey5367]

This can be fixed. Im so freaking glad Canada is gone cause this video shows how really freaking vanilla his playcalling was

[@alouchwhitfield4287]

I haven’t played football since High School over 30 plus years ago. I seriously felt like I was back watching film. Well done spot on analysis. As a die hard Steelers fan I appreciate your hard work and honesty. Hopefully we can get a functional offense and move on to a more effective team. Best of luck to Matt. Whoever is the new OC has got to be as good or better than you with your breakdowns. Thank you for sharing.

[@bigfish995]

In 1941 the coach was a co-owner and he fired himself.

[@yaroslav64]

We must protect Ben Solak at all costs.

[@jakeshootsstuff8187]

The Boswell video is from last year.

[@CycloneBooth]

Excellent breakdown.

[@davido6170]

Even in 1941 the coaches weren’t fired. Co-owner Bert Bell coached the first two games and resigned. He and Art Rooney hired Duquesne coach Buff Donelli who resigned from the University but continued attending their practices. When Duquesne had a game In California, he requested a 1-game leave of absence that the Steelers approved. But NFL commissioner Elmer Layden said Donelli had to choose . Donelli stuck with Duquesne who were undefeated and resigned. Assistant coach Walt Kiesling then became the Steelers 3rd head coach of the season for the last 5 games.

[@itsgrant3296]

one thing that needs to be noted on some of the plays is yes, people were open on some of the plays but it’s the OC job to set the progressional reads and that clearly was an issue as well

[@itsgrant3296]

P.s. i’m a steelers fan and kenny needs to go

[@imrevenant4146]

I’m non steeler fan, I was curious why the Steelers fired their offensive coordinator, damn I feel bad for everyone on that offense specially their qb 💔.

[@pathutchison7688]

The rest of this season is all about seeing if Pickett is the guy. I have my doubts. He has happy feet, which is fixable, but doesn’t seem to read defenses well, which is MUCH less fixable. But either way we have to know about him, and he’s impossible to evaluate in this Canada offense.

[@alexm2889]

He seemed to be reading better and better last year. It certainly seems like bad coaching derailed that.

[@lfhlaw]

Happy feet is due to poor offensive line play. It will go away once Kenny feels like he doesn’t have to worry as much about being sacked and allowing the deeper throws to be developed.

[@CaptCKernel]

For being an OC who is supposedly running pre snap motion, you almost never see it (or at least, motion AT the snap). Its the most frustrating thing when we only run motion immediately after lining up or off a jet sweep

[@bigredracingdog466]

On the one hand it's clear Canada wasn't OC material. On the other, do the Steelers actually have the talent on offense their fans think they have? It will be interesting to see what transpires.

[@alexm2889]

We've seen flashes of it. I think a good OC can harness that and make this offense crank.

[@cbizzlenizzle]

Hitler was at the height of his powers the last time Pittsburgh fired a coach in-season

[@NotRiansLuke]

Why the Steelers Fired Matt Canada: [posts video of today's 400+ yeard game vs. the Bengals] [drops mic, leaves]

[@lordofentropy]

lol, when a kicker is publicly saying after a win, "[the win] ain't because of you. I can guarantee you that," it's definitely time to fire the dude; kickers aren't even football players and he couldn't even take it anymore.

[@lawrence142002]

The Steelers last fired a coach mid-season BEFORE the U.S. even entered WWII.

[@AddyRothTV]

11:40 I heard some time ago that Matt's offense was only smoke and mirrors but zero impact, and you just said that too

[@int0xicated17]

Remember when the Bengals D knew our offense and what we were gonna do. I def see why. Idk how he loves the motion so much and not have a man and a zone beater in the plays. Like its designed to show you which and take advantage of what you see.

[@GoldSulftin]

This is an excellent breakdown, very insightful.

[@scooterjohnson9440]

well done very good analysis

[@AlexPorto_]

Your best one yet, Ben!!

[@ChrisCash720]

But matt canada never had a losing season!?!? 😂

[@mattskov2917]

You are the only youtuber able to explain football play concepts in plain English. Thank you. (Work on sounding less annoying, no offense.)

[@alexm2889]

Really excellent breakdown. Would love to see a video in a few weeks of how the new tag team is doing now that Canada is thankfully on the couch.

[@tony.bickert]

Dude, if you keep doing the Steelers you’re gonna blow a gasket.

[@anthonyrodriguez4870]

As a Steelers fan, Pickett needs to play better, a lot better, cause as of right now even with as bad as Canada’s play calling was, he hasn’t shown he’s a nfl level qb. Hope this new OC draws up plays that test his abilities and we can finally see if he is truly the one to move forward with

[@alexm2889]

Did you actually watch the video?

[@anonymousanonymity2815]

@@alexm2889both are completely able to be true, Canada made Pickett significantly worse, Pickett also played horribly

[@brianmcpeake2509]

The 1st 2 examples of the same play are good examples but why did KP check into it? I'm curious what he saw that he would check into a bad scheme.

[@real_AW10]

Bad Coaching

[@bcrawforshort]

How do we hire this guy as OC of the Steelers?

[@cassiboi1423]

11.21.23 never forget

[@MotorheadMason]

What i was also watching during the browns was repeatable run pass plays literally 4 times in a row 1st down run , 2nd pass (didnt get any yards) 3rd down gotta pass again, 3 and out then runs working and tries to start passing like wtf

[@dangarcia8094]

This is exactly why the Browns said we knew exactly what they were doing, this kind of offense makes it easy for teams to stop us

[@MightyMattTM]

As a Steelers fan, the thing that pissed me off more than ANYTHING was seeing this failure, week after week, and seeing clips of Canada sitting up in the booth. I lost almost all respect for him when i saw snippets of him in the booth. Get YOUR DUMB ASS out of that booth and DOWN ON THAT DAMN FIELD with your players. That is why I feel like he lost the team. He just wasn't there for them during crunch time. He wasn't down there struggling with everyone else. I couldn't believe Tomlin allowed that, but I was ecstatic this week when I saw the coordinator and play caller on the sideline with everyone else.

[@choosecarefully408]

Veddy good. I wonder how the Bears would turn out. It's almost impossible to do a proper video like this about them. I watched a video where they were trying to isolate the QB play only & they found at least 15 plays *in the first half* of a game that were doomed just to play-calling while not looking for them. I guess I should check & see if you've done one.

[@west4127]

Kenny has to see the field

[@mattburton3233]

Canada should go back to college ranks and hone his craft. maybe be an understudy to another coordinator. excellent deconstruction of our lousy O. you should apply as a consultant.

[@jaedynstjuste1708]

The missed read to DJ in the 4th quarter would’ve got Kenny benched if i was coach. That’s why everything WAS NOT on Canada because even if KP was drilled in his head to look at GP first on a 1 high look DJ literally came open .5 seconds later if he didn’t bail out the pocket

[@2kolbe010]

14:14 if you look closely George pickens is wide open because the outside backer takes the running back quickly. At some point, you have to know what defenses are going to run if you run the same look every time. That trait will let you fool a lot of systems ran against you.

[@BryanHalo123]

This is a rare instance of the fans being right about something internal in a very complicated game. The fans wanted Canada deported last year.

[@kenbrown438]

Soon Pittsburgh Steelers fans will be chanting 🔥 fire TOMLI😢 !!!!

[@alexm2889]

We've been chanting it...

[@kenbrown438]

Wasn't the play book in Kenny's stolen SUV 😮 !!!!

[@thehelpdesk4051]

Somebody had to be the scapegoat.... Doesnt matter.... The medocrity which is the standard now wont change

[@Wavvy337]

You need to be the OC

[@Scalamoosh1]

Kenny didn't hit that cross route to Te' because he had 90 barreling at him and, subsequently, needed to bail the pocket.

[@TheGreektrojan]

If he was reading the play correctly (at least in Solak's version), he would have already been throwing the pass by the time 90 got there. Maybe he takes a shot/its too late but the way he was reading the play made it DOA. The point is less "EZ mode touchdown but Pickett sucks" but "poor execution/design/coaching took a good look/play off the table" which is something Tomlin has noted in several press conferences.

[@monz7951]

Boswell my man

[@thomasisrael673]

They fired Canada to take the heat away from kenny

[@jadenp17]

Just being a nitt picky steelers fan but just saying that Bos clip was from either last season or the season before, Devin Bush ain't with the steelers anymore

[@youcantseelim1751]

SO THE CONCLUSION IS CAN SOMEBODY GO PUNCH MATT CANADA FOR RUINING THIS FRANCHISE??? HE SHOULD HAVE RESIGN ON HIS OWN ACCORD BUT CHOSE TO CONTINUOUSLY DAMAGE THIS SUCCESSFUL FRANCHISE AND RUIN MANY YOUNG STARS CAREER!!!!

[@anthonyfesta7010]

There maybe more surprises at the end of the season.

[@jimlahey3919]

It’s always the nerdiest looking guys who look like they’ve never set foot on a field who put out the most in depth analysis!

[@user-su1wt2xy7e]

Ayo bro. Come fix the playbook please. We can call them the same names just tweak it for us so we can actually be good

[@KingMjs_day]

Guess what Steelers won today and put up 421 yards lol

[@koskey06]

I wanna see the steelers bring back a true fullback.....get back to steeler football and pound the ball for 3 yards at a time that will eventually catch them off guard for a big play over the top! Wear out there defence and keep ours off the field and fresh. Also more TE pass plays

[@berlin040909]

Maybe next theyll get a qb

[@ClubMayview]

3 guesses, last two dont count

[@desertedham37]

i fw ben

[@T-Dawg6.7]

Watching Kenny is so frustrating

[@HimmyNeutr0n1]

If anyone here is a Steelers fan and truly thinks kenny is a starting QB you need to reevaluate how you look at football

[@21Kolb]

coming back to this video, i came to the conclusion that matt canada was actually insane. His schemes were just flat out awful. This offense thought that it can throw sprinkles on top of a pile of shit, then it would turn out to be a brownie. news flash lmao, it's still a pile of shit.

[@Yoshi-qp1mg]

Day 3 of protesting Howdy. also as a steelers fan, i have a feeling the problem wasn't just canada. pickett might need to go too.

[@pathutchison7688]

Of course Tomlin couldn’t do it. That would violate the deal he had with Canada about giving his son a scholarship. Had to be Rooney.

[@jimlahey3919]

Kenny Pickett is as bad at his job as Matt Canada was at is, and he’s about to further prove it

[@JasonSmith-pe5py]

I'm a Bronco fan-we r kinda like the Steelers.But who's the damn kicker think he is? He's 100% right but he doesn't have the right to say that. The defense does but not him.

[@seebasschipman293]

Nah Boswell is that dude

[@Sean-hw3dz]

He has the right as he wins us a ton of games.

[@gvttz]

Boswell won us that chiefs game, all points were scored cuz of the Boz

[@alexm2889]

Boz is the man... But also players speaking up is what got this asshole fired finaaaally

[@edub90]

The guy was born to be in hockey, but Canada made a bad call

[@patriciayohn6136]

Canada should have been fired before the BYE week PERIOD!!!!! As a Baby Boomer female, it was plain as the nose on your face, that Matt Canada WAS WAY IN OVER HIS HEAD ABILITY WISE IN THE NFL!!! It was high time for the safe "winning season" mentality to come to an abrupt end!!! RIP CANADA