The Steelers Should Absolutely Be Concerned With Matt Canada's Red Zone Offense After A Rough 3 Days Of '7 Shots'

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2023 season is extremely young. Training camp at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA began on July 27th and the excitement among the fanbase is almost impossible to contain. The front office went out and addressed several positional needs throughout the long break, while second-year quarterback, Kenny Pickett set his sights on becoming the unquestioned leader for the storied franchise in his sophomore campaign. The AFC will be the more difficult of the two conferences to compete in, as the offenses are full of fire power. The Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills are at the top of everyone's lists.

Pittsburgh has a ton of talent on the offensive side of the ball. It all starts with Pickett, but his job has the potential to be rather easy with weapons like Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, Allen Robinson II, Calvin Austin III and Pat Freiermuth at his disposal. There is a common denominator, however, that could hinder the unit from reaching its full potential in 2023.

Offensive Coordinator, Matt Canada has been underwhelming since he became the team's play-caller back in 2021. Many fans expected the organization to fire Canada after a lackluster 2022 campaign, but a strong finish to the year, particularly with two back-to-back game-winning drives, led to the franchise making the decision to keep him around for Pickett's second season.

While it's early and the offensive unit has had its wins in training camp, the second week of camp has seen the group struggle in an area that demands success in the NFL. The Steelers have an extremely popular 'Seven Shots' drill that pins the offense and defense against one another inside the five-yard line. The defense, led by Alex Highsmith and the camp's unsung hero, Kenny Robinson, have thrived in week two.

Steelers Offense Having Tough Stretch During 'Seven Shots'

The Steelers red zone touchdown percentage was just under 52% in 2022. That led to the team being tied for the eighth worst in the entire league. The signs coming out of camp since Tuesday (8/1) are not promising. Tuesday (the first day in pads) was the best out of the three days with the offense falling 4-3. The positive was Harris finding the end zone twice on the ground.

On Wednesday, the offense fell 5-2 and Pickett did not have a strong showing. He went four plays without finding the end zone and while he is consistently going up against one of the best defenses in the league, a 0% conversion rate on four plays can't be acceptable. Fans thought it couldn't get worse, until it did on Thursday. Pads were off, but the result remained the same.

Pickett started off decent as he found Pickens in the end zone for a score on the second play, but the other six plays would result in the defense winning in dominating fashion. The unit took home the crown with a 6-1 victory in the best showing camp has seen up to this point. It's simple. If an offense can't score in the red zone at an impressive rate, that team is not going to win football games, regardless of how talented the defense is.

There's still a lot of work to be done with the Steelers offense. The expectation is for the unit to run the ball consistently, while hopefully taking more shots down the field than in years past under Canada. This is the play-caller's last chance and if the group isn't able to cross the goal line at a higher rate in 2023, he will be looking for employment elsewhere in 2024.

Are you concerned with the offense's recent performances in 'Seven Shots?' Let us know in the comments below!

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