Matt Canada's ingenuity has been a point of emphasis and speculation since he was hired as the Steelers' offensive coordinator in Jan. 2021 to replace Randy Fichtner.
Everyone knows the depth the Steelers have on the receivers with JuJu Smith-Schuster, Chase Claypool, Diontae Johnson and James Washington as a very strong group of four guys they can count on. But Ben Roethlisberger's passing game will also incorporate Najee Harris, as well as both Eric Ebron and Pat Freiermuth.
But they key to those last three isn't just the fact that all of them are athletic receiving threats who run solid routes and can break open big plays, but also how Canada plans to deploy each of them in passing concepts in a way that can force linebackers and safeties into tough decisions over the middle. Tough decisions on defense can often lead to more open targets for Roethlisberger, and easier conversions on offense.
Plenty of Fichtner's offense over the past three years involved targeting receiving options that were either running shallow crosses over the middle, or routes outside the numbers. There were concepts that had players run routes deeper over the middle, but not often enough to be targeted to break defenses open and not mixed with other threats over the middle to put defenders into tough decisions.
When safeties, linebackers and slot cornerbacks prepare week-to-week, they know study to find who the preferred targets are for each quarterback and which receiving threats are the most damaging should they get the ball in their hands.
Last year, teams knew about the Steelers receivers and learned about Ebron, but never had too much a reason to key in on James Conner, Benny Snell or Jaylen Samuels.
That's going to be very different with Harris coming out of the backfield. Most linebackers won't be able to run with him when he's cutting in open space and that means defenses can't focus as much help against Ebron and Freiermuth as tight ends while still having to worry about the Steelers' receivers.
Here's an isolated look Freiermuth had against the Lions on a deep post pattern for a touchdown. Notice how the linebackers underneath either run with Harris or Washington, but a second person can't help against Freiermuth and it makes for a highlight red zone touchdown:
The key there is the hesitation and uncertainty in the linebackers about who they should cover.
Whenever defensive players hesitate, it creates the opportunity for offensive weapons to run hard in their routes and break away to be easier targets and make bigger plays as defenders aren't running with them.
That was certainly the case on Harris' 46-yard catch and run when he ran a shallow cross from out of the backfield underneath an in route further down the field by Ebron. Watch how Ebron's route not only forces a safety to follow him, but also backs up the middle linebacker even further from Harris' underneath route. That gave him just enough space to explode for the big gain, and then Ebron even helped on the back end with a block:
It's a problem linebackers are going to have to gamble on every time that's called.
Part of what makes that call so difficult for defenders is how dangerous Harris is by himself as a receiving back. He can run a Texas route out of the backfield and easily pick up a solid chunk of yards with sharp routes that force linebackers to respect his ability to cut in any direction.
Here's an example when he ran a Texas route against the Lions and picked up a solid six yards. The linebacker won't try to approach him at the start of his route and smother him because Harris could cut in a different direction and be left wide open to break a big play. Instead, he waited for Harris to finish his break into the final part of his Texas route and made the tackle well after the designed yards were gained:
And this won't go just for Harris, either.
Kalen Ballage will be the Steelers' established second option at running back because he's been the most complete player who accomplishes all the roles of the position in since camp opened late July.
That also applies to the receiving game. Watch how Ballage's simple route to the flat was an easy target for Mason Rudolph that went for a first down. But look whose route cleared out the last man that could've helped cover Ballage's path to the flat, and you can see it was Ebron walking the safety further back to clear out the space:
Again, Canada's offense must be about forcing those tough decisions.
The Steelers' diverse set of skill players on offense will present matchup complications for teams who prepare to find the right defenders for each situation. Because of that, it will be harder for defenses to lock onto all the different aspects of the offense and usually leave Roethlisberger with one or two safe or open chances for solid throws.
But one of the more natural ways that running backs and tight ends can play off each other in the passing game is something we hadn't seen all that much in recent years: play action.
Part of that was because there was no fear instilled in defenses when Roethlisberger went to hand the ball to Conner. If the defense could at least hold its ground at certain positions they were confident they could stop or slow down Conner. But that won't be the case with Harris, and linebackers will bite on the chance he'll run.
Heck, the play action even did its job against the Lions when Anthony McFarland was out there. Watch the middle linebacker on this 27-yard play action pass to Ebron. You can see the middle linebacker freeze at the possibility of a run and the chance they may need to help with an underneath route.
By the time the defense figures out what's going on, Ebron was wide open down the field for an easy pass to be thrown and completed by Rudolph:
That's the other part of balance that must apply to this Steelers offense.
The run game improving is a major part of the plan for Canada's offense to get the unit back to being a feared group in the NFL, but also very important is finding those matchup problems created by the athletes the Steelers have compiled at tight end an running back. The more mismatches Canada can create over the middle for easy throws by Roethlisberger, the better.
