When Bengals' linebacker Germaine Pratt claimed the Steelers' failure on offense in the second half of Sunday's loss came down to Cincinnati being able to predict the playcalling, it threw gas on the fire for those who want to see Matt Canada lose his job as offensive coordinator.
Canada's response to Pratt's theory didn't help matters.
"I think it's good for you guys to be able to talk about," Canada said during his meeting with the media Thursday afternoon at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "We've got good self-scouting. I think Coach [Mike] Tomlin addressed it. My answer wouldn't continue the narrative you're hunting."
No, the narrative that most fans are hunting is not if but when Canada will be out of a job. And despite any claim he makes that he doesn't read anything written about him, he's very aware that he's under a lot of fire right now.
"You have to do enough to be competitive enough to score. We can go through it, but I'm not going to do that," Canada said. "We've got a really, really good offensive staff. You can take me out of it, that'd fit what everybody wants to do."
There are some that might be skeptical of Pratt's claim since the Steelers' offense had their most productive day of the season against them, scoring 30 points for the first time this year. However, 20 points came in the first half and the final seven didn't come until the Bengals went into ultra-prevent defense with a two-touchdown lead with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
With a 20-17 lead, the Steelers' offense began the second half with three consecutive three-and-outs. It wasn't until an amazing interception by T.J. Watt gifted the offense with the ball in field goal range that they came away with three points.
After such a productive half, the offense failing as badly as it did for the first 13 minutes of the second half will cause questions to mount, and there are two people that need to answer those question.
Tomlin said Tuesday it came down to lack of execution rather than any intel the Bengals had on the Steelers' tendencies. Canada is next in line as the coordinators speak every Thursday, and anyone who's watched Canada address the media knows the level of indifference he has about the whole thing.
It showed again Thursday, despite anything he said.
"I've said it and I mean it. I've got the greatest job in the world. Part of that job is the privilege of standing here," Canada said. "It is what it is. We could do it right now. I could go through the second half, play-by-play and tell you what happened. But, I'm never going to put it on our players or anything else. If it doesn't work, that's on me. That's part of it."
Ironically, Canada did end up going through what happened. Play by play. Here's the full transcript from when he was asked how his plays can be predictable when they have options built into them:
"You're putting me in a spot where I can't answer that question. I appreciate your question. Obviously, it was brought to my attention it was said. I've known Pratt since he was in high school. Again, as you guys do all your investigating, there's sometimes more to stories than fun. But, it is what it is. It's a good thing. We didn't win the game. We were not good enough in the second half. We called a screen on the first play of the second half. We had two guys out there, and it didn't work. Called a run on second down. Didn't work. Third down, somehow their corner miraculously got his arm around Diontae [Johnson]'s hand warmer there. We were trying to get the ball to him, so it didn't work. Next series, we ran the ball into a two-shell look. That's what we wanted to do. Had a good run. Called a screen into a blitz, which I'm sure you know is what you like to do. Didn't work. Third down -- I could do it the whole way through. But, it is what it is. We did not produce. If you look at the game, we had a third down in the first half, right? (Kenny Pickett) threw the ball to Najee [Harris]. They went to cover zero. We had a play on Najee with the defensive end that didn't work out. That's four points we've gotta get. Gotta get that. Then we get the turnover that T.J. got. We get down there. Have a ball down there. Have some guys, but the play doesn't execute the way we wanted it to. Second down, a decent run. Third down, we don't get it. That's eight points. Then we call the flea flicker in the second half there, and we just don't quite get it. Then we have a couple penalties. There's all those things you can add up and go through that -- it is what it is. We didn't score enough points to win the game. That's just the way it is."
As I pointed out after Sunday's game, a big difference between the first and second half was the lack of touches Harris had in the early portions of the third quarter -- especially on the first three drives where they went three-and-out. Though first-down running can be thought of as predictable at times, Harris averaged 4.2 yards per carry on first downs during the first three scoring drives of the first half, and he's been most effective running on first downs this season, averaging 3.9 yards on 92 first-down carries this season.
I asked why that may or may not be part of the plan every week, and it's a similar answer I consistently get from anyone on the South Side: It depends on the matchup.
"We've got to continue to be balanced and be sound on first and second downs. We study all of those things," Canada said. "We've got to continue to run the football on first and second down. We haven't been heavy. We're not running it 70 percent of the time. If we're doing that, it's because you want to run the ball, you want to control the clock. There's complimentary football that sometimes you want to get and go do against a high-powered offense. It just depends."
Canada is certainly not the only reason for the offense's failure this season. Kenny Pickett is a rookie that is learning on the job. The offensive line is inconsistent. It took Harris far too long to look like the running back he was last year. Johnson has been far too quiet after being paid as a No. 1 receiver.
But, these types of days at the podium don't do Canada any favors. He can say, "It's all on me" every time he meets with the media. But, it doesn't cut through the obvious lack of humility. And after first saying he wouldn't go through something play by play because he didn't want to put the fault on the players, he did it anyway.
The horse has been beaten to death. But, until Canada provides consistency on offense and humility in front of the media, he's going to continue to make himself the easy scapegoat for the 2022 Steelers.
MORE FROM THE SOUTH SIDE
• There might be an actual backstory to Pratt's comment about the Steelers' offense. Pratt played under Canada while at NC State in 2014-15.
Canada obviously did not divulge that story, and he isn't necessarily an open book. But, color me intrigued. I am a reporter, after all.
• It's been a frustrating season for Johnson. But, when he addressed the media after Thursday's practice, one thing really stood out that remains consistent with everything I've seen and heard about him all season.
"I can’t worry about trying to play great, just be myself and try not to press," Johnson said Thursday. "The more you do that, you are not playing for the team, you are playing for yourself. I don’t want to go down that road. I want to be all-in with my guys."
It's really easy for a receiver making $18-million per year to go down that road. We've seen it happen here before. And, while Johnson certainly needs to produce more, he is consistently considered to be one of the most open receivers in football by multiple websites that track that information, including ESPN's advanced stats.
While frustration can boil over, allowing a cooler head to prevail is an encouraging sign from Johnson, who is continuing to work and improve his communication with Pickett.
"If stuff isn’t going my way, continue to show that I’m getting open," Johnson said. "Trying to help the team out any way I can. Not complain about it, that’s the toughest part. It’s football, I’m responding the right way and keep playing."
• That being said, the Steelers are actively trying to figure out a way to involve Johnson more on offense, even when teams predictably double-team him.
"I am going to keep working," said Johnson. "Coach has been dialing up a plan so they can move me around. I am going to just keep playing. (Defenses) are trying to take me out of the game. I talked to Coach T. He said teams can only do that so long. It's how we come up with a game plan to move me around if they do tend to take me out of the game, get me in different spots so I can have those one-on-one matchups with linebackers, do what I can to help the team move the ball down the field."
• On the other hand, George Pickens has emerged as one of Pickett's go-to targets. That might not be an accident as the two rookies not only played well together in training camp, but met each other at the Combine in Indianapolis prior to the draft. And, Pickens' first memory of meeting Pickett left an impression.
"Oh, he was real laid back, like a cool type of guy," Pickens said Thursday. "A lot of other QBs, they had different personalities. Kenny was just more of like a strictly business. I don't want to say strictly business, but you know, laid back, and he's somebody not to joke around with, he's gonna go and take it seriously. He wanted to be great. That's really the biggest thing. He wanted to be great."
• Pickens has earned a larger role in the offense since Chase Claypool was traded. However, he said it hasn't really impacted how Canada is using him on offense.
"I am doing the same thing," Pickens said. "In the NFL, you have to run every route. I am running the same routes, the same plays. I am going through the same routine. Nothing really changed."
• Pickens was also asked Thursday about being ejected for hitting Tyler Boyd helmet-to-helmet in the final seconds of the loss to the Bengals, and he played it down as if it wasn't a big deal. The reason? It didn't have an impact on the final score.
"I could see if it was in a jeopardizing position in the game, hurt the lead, destroyed the game, it was the reason we lost," Pickens said. "It was really nothing."
• There were no surprises on Thursday's injury report. Miles Boykin (oblique), Ahkello Witherspoon (hamstring), Jaylen Warren (hamstring) and Mason Cole (foot) did not practice. T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi were also given days off to rest.
• Last but not least, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope it's a good one. Just want to thank each and every one of you for reading along with all of our Steelers coverage.
