Steelers offensive woes shown in unfortunate streak under Matt Canada

The Pittsburgh Steelers also had an unfortunate start to the season, like the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Steelers’ performance vs. the San Francisco 49ers — resulting in a 30-7 home loss — continued a streak that any offense would like to avoid. It marked the team’s 36th game without reaching 400 yards on offense.

Yikes.

Pittsburgh has been able to boast they’ve avoided any losing season under head coach Mike Tomlin, but the team has seemingly wasted the opportunity to be better by keeping offensive coordinator Matt Canada around.

That name probably sounds familiar if you’ve heard any Steeler fan complain the last few seasons about the offense. He has become the focus of the fan base’s frustration with the offense failing to take off. The team deciding to not get rid of him at the end of last season was a pretty big shock in the Pittsburgh area.

It seems like they fell prey to the “we saw the unit get hot at the end of the season” idea that coaches and front offices fall prey to all the time. Most recently, Bengals fans saw that happen when the team decided to bring back Marvin Lewis for another season because he won his final two games. You can blame it on the hubris or familiarity with the coaches from the higher-ups in the organization.

This most recent dud from the Steelers offense came against a very good 49ers defense, but it also was preceded by a preseason of people propping up quarterback Kenny Pickett and wide receiver George Pickens’ success in the preseason. One that saw some national media analysts picking them as a dark horse team to compete in the AFC.

Now we will all get to watch how long this milestone sticks with the offense the rest of the season.