Mike Tomlin leaves door open for coaching changes, including Matt Canada

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had a rough start to their season, and many are pitting the brunt of the blame on coaching. Specifically, offensive coordinator Matt Canada, who also calls plays on offense, has been on the receiving end of a great amount of criticism.

For the second season in a row, the Steelers have the 25th or worse ranked offense. They’re averaging just 15.5 points per game.

Second-year QB Kenny Pickett hasn’t taken the next step in his development like many were hoping to see from the first-round pick. His 60.6 percent completion rate ranks third-worst in the NFL among QBs who have started all four games this season. It’s caused his stock to slip in Sportsnaut’s weekly NFL QB rankings, but to be fair, he hasn’t gotten much help from his teammates either.

In addition to their struggles in the passing game, the Steelers haven’t been able to get their rushing attack to thrive either, which averages just 3.6 yards per carry, good for the eighth-worst mark in the NFL.

Some might pit the blame on the offensive line, which, according to Pro Football Focus, ranks 29th in the NFL heading into Week 5. So, is it really one person’s fault? Well, all of these poor marks have led to some football minds questioning the play-calling of Coach Canada, who’s in his third season as offensive coordinator.

Thanks to a 2-2 start, which includes a 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans, concerns in Pittsburgh are growing. Now it’s reached Mike Tomlin’s desk, who had to address the outside criticism relating to the coaching staff he put together before the season began.

On Tuesday, Coach Tomlin was asked if he was considering making any coaching changes to his staff. His response? “Not at this juncture, no.”

However, Tomlin has admitted that the team’s coaching has “not been good enough” while indicating there will definitely be changes coming.

Based on Tomlin’s response, he’s not ready to make any changes to his staff after just four weeks, but when? His comments indicate that there has been some thought to a personnel shift, especially considering he didn’t shut down the question entirely. Yet, if changes to the coaching staff are on the way, as Tomlin said, they’re not happening just yet.