The Pittsburgh Steelers are one-for-one in the post-Matt Canada era. The Steelers offense produced 400 yards for the first time in 58 games. They also secured a 16-10 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals. The offense felt different under Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan. Kenny Pickett was more confident and effective under the new coordinator and play-caller and produced one of his best games as a professional.
Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger
Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger and Spencer Te'o return to YouTube with a new podcast episode.
On Wednesday, Ben Roethlisberger and Spencer T’eo returned with a new episode of Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger. The popular podcast has been streaming during Steelers games for several weeks. It was difficult for fans to watch Roethlisberger and the game because they were often out of sync, depriving some fans of the future Hall of Fame quarterback’s insights about the Steelers.
Roethlisberger has generated multiple opinions picked up by national debate shows like Fox Sports' Undisputed, ESPN’s First Take, and The Pat McAfee Show. His insights about Lamar Jackson started a social media feud with ESPN’s Robert Griffin III. Roethlisberger’s assessment of Pickett and subsequent apology to him sparked furious debate. On Wednesday, he picked up where he left off and, in his unique style, stomped all over what was left of Canada’s reputation.
“I think that everybody, offense, defense, everybody kind of felt this like newness,” Roethlisberger began. “Right or wrong, for whatever reason, everyone was like we are hitting that reset button; let’s see what happens. I imagine the defense felt some kind of way because they got to rest. Is Sully coaching for a full-timer thing moving forward? I don’t know. Only Coach T [Tomlin] and Mr. Rooney know that.”
Roethlisberger’s observation about the Steelers looking like a different team is right on the mark. On his first play, Sullivan and Faulkner forced Pickett to throw the ball in the middle of the field. It either restored a shaken quarterback’s confidence, or put to rest foolish play calls that intentionally did not target the middle of the field. The results, no matter which was true, had the intended consequence of placing Pickett’s eyes in the center of the field.
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Steelers' Kenny Pickett and QB coach Mike Sullivan.
Te’o, who has steadily developed into a solid co-host for Roethlisberger, picked up on his partner’s singling out of Sullivan as responsible for the improvement. He astutely asked if the division of labor between Faulkner and Sullivan was a potential system hack. The two-time Super Bowl champion responded with a bombshell.
“I’ve never seen a team with two coordinators before,” Roethlisberger responded. “I would say this: as long as I’ve been there, I worked really closely with the offensive coordinator. That was intentional, almost to the point where I felt like, at one point, BA [Bruce Arians] early on didn’t want a quarterback coach.
Quarterback coaches are the go-between when you are butting heads with the coordinator. I’ve always worked closely with the coordinator, even when I had a quarterback coach. I didn’t feel that with Matt. It almost felt like Matt wanted to let the quarterback coach coach me.”
One of the big knocks on Canada during 2022 was that he refused to let his quarterback audible. Canada made a feeble attempt to refute the reporting by contending that his signal-callers could use checks, but he avoided using the word audible. Roethlisberger was in the last year of his career and headed to the Hall of Fame, so he ignored the offensive coordinator to engineer scoring drives in his final season. The stunning admission that Canada did not want to work with him raises severe questions about Pickett's development.
"Right or wrong, maybe it's just the way he does it," Roethlisberger continued. "Maybe he just didn't want to do it with me. I don't really know that. That was the first time I felt I wasn't working directly with the coordinator. It seems weird. Maybe that is why Kenny feels more comfortable with Sully. Maybe the same thing was going on where Matt was more removed. 'I'm the coordinator. I'll coordinate. You work with Sully.'"
Steelers Coordinator Matt Canada Refused To Let Assistants Help With Game Plan
Is it possible that Pickett's regression was because Canada could not be bothered with sitting down with the leader of his offense? Avoiding interacting with Roethlisberger because he didn't want to argue is one thing. Shutting out your rookie quarterback from game preparation is beyond lousy coaching. It is malfeasance. It is also entirely plausible based on Canada's reputation for shutting out offensive assistants.
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Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger and Kenny Pickett.
Pickett does not have the tremendous physical gifts or football intelligence of Roethlisberger. He has barely started over one season of NFL games; it isn't realistic to expect that he would. Pickett's improvement in Week 12 might be the result of a more collaborative process. Is it possible that Faulkner, Sullivan, and Pickett were not only in the same room preparing the game plan, but also on the same page for the first time in his young career?
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Are you shocked that Roethlisberger unveiled this take immediately after Canada was fired? Please comment below or on my Twitter/X: @thebubbasq.
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