That didn’t take long. All the evidence needed to confirm Matt Canada’s complete and utter incompetence were revealed in a series of first for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense in 2023.

Starting with the first offensive snap of the game. Kenny Pickett hit Pat Freiermuth with a beautiful post pass right down the middle for a substantial gain. First time that’s happened all season, and it happened on the first play of the first game without the aforementioned Canada.

I was hoping and praying for visual evidence of improved play calling going into the game. I was looking for more offensive fluidity, better communication, and some sort of comprehension for the sequencing of play calling. Execution would be nice obviously, but I was looking for a renewed focus. Targeting the middle of the field with slats and seam routes, working play action off an improving rushing attack, and an improved feel for personnel usage. Although the overall offensive performance was far from perfect, there was definitely improvement. All it took was the first play of the first game without their former albatross of an offensive coordinator.

We the Steelers faithful will no longer have to endure the endless reminders of how long it had been since a Steelers offense had produced a 400 yard performance. The real answer was never, as the Steelers never produced a 400 yard game with Matt Canada as OC. There is another reminder that I am so excited that I will no longer have to hear that I think a lot of fans are overlooking: the Steelers outgained an opponent for the first time this season.

A couple more firsts to close out this section of the article. Sunday’s game against the Bengals was the first time I felt entertained watching the Steelers this season. All the frustrations of previous weeks faded away, and were replaced by hope for a brighter future. It was also the first time in a long time that I felt like I was watching an honest to goodness NFL caliber offense. You know, the kind of offense where you can’t predict the next unsuccessful play before it happens based on personnel and formation tendencies. How refreshing.

Steelers Stock Trending Up: Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan

Wonderful job by both gentlemen. They were handed a monumental challenge at a moments notice. Salvage the Steelers season by rescuing the floundering offense. If you listen to the critics, which I never do, the Steelers have the worst starting QB in NFL history. Statistically speaking. The Steelers only have two NFL caliber wide receivers actually, and neither of them possess NFL level maturity or consistency.

So what did the combination of Faulkner and Sullivan do in the face of such overwhelming odds? Mostly stuff that Matt Canada refused to do during his tenure as OC. First off, they were passionately engaged with the process, not sulking on the sidelines, looking all pouty and punished. They communicated, and they listened. They focused their offensive attack on areas of the field long neglected, knowing that the opponent would be unprepared for the changes. They compensated for their lack of wide receiver talent by focusing on their surplus of talent at the running back and tight end positions instead. These subtle but important changes resulted in the much maligned Pickett producing his most complete and consistent performance of the season. Hats off to Faulkner and Sullivan.

Steelers Stock Trending Up: Personnel usage

As I mentioned in the previous section of this article, the Steelers did a much better job of personnel usage, especially on offense. While both Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren gave strong performances, Harris was the hot hand of the day, and the Steelers stuck with him, especially to close out the game in the fourth quarter. That’s exactly what they failed to do the previous week against the Browns. Also, as previously mentioned, the Steelers not only utilized their impressive TE depth, but they effectively capitalized on the mismatches created throughout the game. The Steelers targeted Pat Freiermuth repeatedly during the contest, resulting in Freiermuth’s first 100 yard game of the season. Not long after Freiermuth’s first reception down the middle of the field to start the game, my lovely wife looked at me and jokingly asked “Who’s Freiermuth?” Now that was funny.

Steelers Stock Trending Down: Diontae Johnson

I am just going to rip off the band-aid. Diontae Johnson has never played like a Pittsburgh Steeler in my opinion. The Steelers list of exceptional wide receivers is quite lengthy, to say the least. Put it this way, the list of HOF caliber receivers for the Steelers is longer than the list of true WR1 types for the majority of other NFL franchises. I say that to say this: I have been spoiled by all that greatness. I readily admit no less. The highest of standards has been set, and Diontae Johnson simply doesn’t qualify. He doesn’t cut the mustard, or live up to the hype.

The total lack of effort to recover Warren’s fumble is fresh on everyone’s mind, but the game itself was a perfect example of Johnson’s shortcomings and inconsistencies. At one point in the first half, my loving wife once again asked me a question; “Why did Johnson slow down and hesitate right there?” I tried to explain to her that is called self preservation. Johnson avoids taking any hit at full speed at all cost, even if it means coming up short of the first down line to gain.

I reference contact balance often in my articles and podcasts, but never when discussing Johnson. That’s because he has never displayed enough contact balance worth mentioning. Johnson doesn’t just go down on first contact, he goes down prior to first contact on many occasions. Watch the replay, he didn’t lose 6 yards on that first quarter screen pass by running backwards. Johnson stumbled backwards after the slightest contact. That was truly pathetic.

Ever since Johnson signed his latest contract, the reasoning behind not moving away from this unholy union has been how expensive any such move would be for the Steelers, based on salary structure. That all ends this season. Therefore, I am rooting bigtime for Johnson to have a spectacular close to this season. Hopefully even a noteworthy playoff performance, in front of a captivated national TV audience. I pray that Johnson’s value will never be higher than at the end of this season for the Steelers. That level of success would benefit all parties involved, and gift the Steelers the biggest possible return in any Johnson trade during the offseason. Parting is such sweet sorrow, but similar to the curious case of Matt Canada, well past due.