Tim Benz: Steelers need to get over fear of change at offensive coordinator

During his weekly Tuesday press conference, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was reminded that a few weeks ago he said he would be open to changes — if he felt like those changes would yield better results.

Now that the team has sunk to 2-5 and the offense is struggling by every metric available, why hasn’t Tomlin made changes beyond replacing Mitch Trubisky with Kenny Pickett at quarterback?

“Because I don’t feel like I’m there,” Tomlin replied.

Well, he must be the last person in Pittsburgh to feel that way. Especially as it relates to offensive coordinator Matt Canada.

I know that the knee jerk reaction to keep Canada is to argue that if an offensive coordinator change takes place, it’ll hinder Pickett’s development.

However, I’m of the opinion that Pickett’s development is being hindered by Canada’s continued presence. Change is needed.

Take a look at some of this data Chris Adamski and I put together on Monday. Or take a glance a some other numbers compiled by TribLIVE’s Joe Rutter on Tuesday:

• Canada’s offense is averaging 298.6 yards per game, No. 30 in the NFL. It was 23rd last year with Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger running it.

• The Steelers rank No. 31 in points per game at 15.3. Last year, the average was 20.2 (21st).

• The Steelers average 4.8 yards per play this season, the same as 2021. That’s the worst in the NFL in 2022. It was 28th in 2021.

• The Steelers are one of three NFL teams without a run of 20 yards or longer and have had just one pass play eclipse 40 yards.

If Tomlin isn’t “there” while looking at numbers like that, when is he going to get “there”?

Explain to me how Pickett is going to be negatively impacted from a change in offensive approach if the Steelers were to make a move at offensive coordinator.

Even if that change is as minimal as replacing Canada with an interim currently on the staff to ride out the rest of this season before a full search can be conducted.

And if the problem isn’t Canada — and he thinks Pickett is a better option than Trubisky — what other changes are there to be made?

I get where Tomlin is coming from. He doesn’t want to create turmoil or upheaval by making a drastic coaching move such as that midseason.

Again, though, I’ll pose the question, what is there to “upheave”? Maybe upheaving a bottom-of-the-league offense could do some good.

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Not only for Pickett, but everyone else on the offensive side of the ball. And for everyone who has had to watch the current group attempt to perform this year.

For instance, look at the Steelers’ second offensive drive of the third quarter. Down 16-10, the drive got to second-and-4 from their own 33-yard line. A very manageable situation.

Somehow — and I don’t know how this is physically possible — the Steelers managed to complete two forward passes across the line of scrimmage, without pressure on the quarterback, and still only gained three yards.

That’s nine whole feet. Then they punted on fourth-and-1.

In both cases, the Steelers sent five people — Najee Harris, a tight end, and three wide receivers — into the pattern. In both cases, though, at least two of the receivers (Harris and Chase Claypool) ended up running their routes short of the chains, just four yards away.

That’s two NFL athletes running routes within nine feet of the line of scrimmage. In fact, on the third-down pass, Claypool actually crossed the line to gain in his pattern, then curled back behind it.

In both cases, Harris caught Pickett’s passes but came up short of the sticks because the Dolphins were only rushing three and dropping eight, and he got tackled.

Should an NFL offense really have two check-down options within nine feet of the line of scrimmage? Why even give a rookie quarterback those options to take on two straight snaps?

That’s to say nothing of sending in the ill-fated, fourth-quarter quarterback sneak that — for whatever reason — needed to have a motion man (Miles Boykin) running back and forth behind Pickett on the play. It looked like the goal was to have Boykin wind up behind Pickett to help shove him forward, which wasn’t needed.

But all that end up doing was two things:

1. It actually brought the defender (Xavien Howard) following Boykin into the middle of the box. He never materially impacted the play. But once he was in the middle of the defensive formation, he could’ve. He wasn’t going to do so while standing on the far right side of the perimeter.

2. It resulted in a penalty because Chuks Okorafor rocked back in his stance once Boykin went in motion. So that was deemed to be an illegal shift.

A player error, sure. But was any of that pre-snap motion necessary for a simple QB sneak?

The bye week looms after Sunday’s game in Philadelphia. That would be the perfect time for Tomlin to make a change. But I doubt he will.

After all, it was also Tomlin who said Tuesday, “With continuity, it raises your floor. When you raise your floor and minimize negativity, you increase the potential for positivity.”

I don’t know about “raising the floor.” But if things go the way the records are suggesting against the 6-0 Eagles this week, the roof will collapse.

If it hasn’t already.