Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator, Matt Canada has come under a LOT of fire over the past two years. He has been blamed for everything from Ben Roethlisberger's less-than-stellar final season, to Kenny Pickett's rough start, to Diontae Johnson not getting a touchdown in 2022, to the polar ice cap melting. This has led to the media piecing apart every word said by a player or fellow coach to analyze it for subtext. One of those over-analyzed items was a comment from tight end Pat Freiermuth.
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Ben Roethlisberger was the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers for 18 seasons.
Freiermuth appeared on Roethlisberger's podcast, Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger, and said that the offense doesn't run hot routes. Freiermuth is going into his third season with the Steelers in 2023 and has played for the same number of starting quarterbacks. He was asked on the show to compare the offenses run by Roethlisberger, Mitch Trubisky, and Pickett.
"It's so different because we didn't have hots. How many times did we have a concept, and you looked [at Diontae Johnson] and gave a signal, and it'd be a 12-yard completion? We didn't have that this year."
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Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth (88) reacts with wide receiver Diontae Johnson (18).
This comment set off a firestorm of fury from the fans who were already hearing opposing defenses say our plays were "vanilla" and "predictable." Now Freiermuth is setting the record straight.
Steelers' Pat Freiermuth Addresses The Hot Routes
He appeared on another teammate's podcast, this one belonging to Steelers defensive tackle, Cam Heyward. The show, called Not Just Football With Cam Heyward, did a draft special with a few teammates, old and new stopping in.
Heyward took the opportunity to ask Freiermuth about the hot routes comment, saying he wanted to give him a chance to explain what he meant.
"What I meant to say is we have hot routes on the offense, the difference in the hot routes is what made it different this year. You know Ben had his hot routes that he's had for 18 years and Kenny just got in, so he was getting used to it, to our offensive hot routes. So it was just the differences of hot routes - we have them. I misspoke. I should have clarified on Ben's podcast."
Freiermuth goes on to say that it is just different between a rookie and a pro and he wasn't as clear as he should have been.
"We have hot routes, they're just different. Ben had his and Kenny has his and I'm looking forward to evolving the offense this upcoming year."
Heyward prompts Freiermuth based on his last comment saying the difference between a vet and a rookie in those situations is sometimes about the interaction, and that Freiermuth was a rookie during that year with Roethlisberger - he was just learning the ropes.
"So with Ben, he was more teaching you where to get open as opposed to you coming to Kenny and telling him where you'll get open?"
Freiermuth agrees with Heyward and elaborates.
"It's a little bit of both obviously. Ben's been in the league, when I was with him, that was his 18th year, so he's seen everything. It's not like I have to come up to him and be like, 'Hey Ben, they're doing this,' he knows what they're doing. So he can kind of adjust off that. Kenny, being his first year, he's a hell of a player and a hell of a smart quarterback, it was more of a conversation because you know we're trying to bring each other along, trying to build that chemistry on the fly, on the run."
Fred Vulch, AP
Pittsburgh Steelers tight end, Pat Freiermuth, makes a touchdown catch against the Detroit Lions.
What do you think about Freiermuth's explanation? Does that ring true? Do you think that it is as simple as he says, or do you think that Canada didn't allow hot routes? Tell us how you feel, click to comment below!
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