Matt Canada will get at least one more year to oversee the development of the Pittsburgh Steelers offense.

Canada will return for a third season as the Steelers offensive coordinator, a team spokesman confirmed Wednesday.

Canada’s return comes after the Steelers finished No. 26 in scoring in 2022, averaging 18.1 points per game. That’s a decrease from his first season when the Steelers averaged 20.2 points in 2021 to rank No. 21.

The Steelers also ranked No. 23 in total yards in each of Canada’s two seasons running the offense.

Still, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin apparently saw enough progress from the offense in the second half of the season to bring back Canada for another season. Led by rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett and second-year running back Najee Harris, the Steelers offense showed improvements in the passing and running games after the bye week. It helped the Steelers go 7-2 in the second half and finish the season on a four-game winning streak.

“I thought he got better, just like our team got better,” Tomlin said last week at his season wrap-up news conference.

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Pickett threw just one interception in the second half of the season, and Harris topped 1,000 yards rushing for the second year in a row by shaking off a slow start.

“We really caught stride after that bye week,” Pickett said on teammate Cameron Heyward’s podcast, “Not Just Football,” earlier this week. “We figured out what it takes to win, what that recipe looks like, so we can continue to grow as a team and grow as an offense.”

After the season finale against Cleveland, Harris defended Canada, who has been criticized for his play-calling that emphasizes jet sweeps and lacked big passing plays under Pickett and veteran Mitch Trubisky.

“We all believe in Canada,” Harris said. “Everybody is saying he calls the same plays, but everybody calls the same plays … it’s just dressed up a different way. If you really know X’s and O’s, that’s what it is. All that play-calling stuff, I think it’s a cover-up for the lack of things we were doing on the field as players.

“I never bought into none of that. At the end of the day, we’re the ones who have to make the plays. He puts us in the best positions.”

Canada came under the most scrutiny when the Steelers started the season 2-6. The first half featured Trubisky getting benched at halftime of the fourth game of the season and Tomlin replacing him with Pickett, the rookie from Pitt.

Left guard Kevin Dotson said his trust in Canada’s plan increased throughout the season.

“At the beginning of the year, everybody was iffy,” he said. “Everybody was iffy on the O-line, everything. It definitely built my confidence up when I started seeing some of his vision.”

That happened during the bye week when rumors swirled that Canada’s job could be in jeopardy. Tomlin, though, stood by his coordinator. The offense improved in the second half as Pickett eliminated the turnovers that bothered him in the first half of the season, and the offensive line opened holes for Harris and backup Jaylen Warren. Harris gained 673 yards and averaged 4.1 yards per carry in the final nine games.

“He started realizing what we were good at and started playing to our strengths,” Dotson said.

Canada, who was the team’s quarterbacks coach in 2020, will enter a fourth season with the Steelers, the longest tenure of his coaching career since he spent four seasons at Indiana from 2007-10 when he was the school’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Canada’s predecessor, Randy Fichtner, spent three years in the position before he was replaced. The Steelers averaged 26 points per game in 2020, Fichtner’s final season.

Canada turns 51 on Thursday.

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