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Matt Canada doesn’t exactly have a reputation as one of the most innovative offensive coordinators in the NFL.
Now, Pittsburgh Steelers fans can consider defensive end Cameron Heyward among those who consider Canada’s play calling for the team’s offense too simple.
On his podcast, Not Just Football, Heyward flat out referred to Canada’s play calling early this preseason as “very vanilla.”
“Matt Canada is not opening up the playbook,” Heyward said on his podcast on August 9. “It’s very vanilla right now, I have to say … I think coach Canada is holding it close to the vest right now.
“I hope so, and we’ll see what goes from there.”
Heyward added that he plans to have Canada on the podcast as a guest. If that happens, that will be an interesting conversation.
But for now, Heyward sounds as concerned about the simplicity of the Steelers’ play calling as the average Pittsburgh fan.
Former QB Rips Matt Canada For Play Calling
It may only be Week 1 of the preseason, but apparently, it’s never too early to pile on Canada.
Interestingly, it’s not necessarily Steelers fans with the loudest criticism at the moment.
In his breakdown of the Steelers’ first-team offense’s drive against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on August 11, former NFL quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan ripped Canada’s play calling on his YouTube channel, The QB School.
“There’s so much better stuff. So much better stuff, yet we still see it every year,” O’Sullivan said. “But for this team, this organization. I feel like they do it more than others.”
O’Sullivan was referring to two route concepts that Kenny Pickett had completions on early in the game. O’Sullivan called one route, “Hank and spacing” and referred to the the second one as, “Stick-spacing.”
The routes led to completions against the Buccaneers’ Tampa 2 defense. But the former quarterback clearly wasn’t pleased with the simplicity of the calls.
“It’s almost like two middle fingers to the drop back passing evolution of what football is and should be nowadays,” he added. “I don’t understand it. It’s comedy but also pain at the same time.”
Canada Holding Back Until the Regular Season?
Receiving criticism from a former quarterback who is probably trying to grow his YouTube channel is one thing. Heyward’s comment, though, is a whole other can of worms.
In Canada’s defense, the Steelers should have a great defense this season. The unit would likely challenge most offensive coordinators every day in practice.
Heyward is also a 13-year veteran. There might not be much offensively that surprises him at this point in his career.
However, if Heyward finds Canada’s play calling “very vanilla,” it’s likely that opponents will feel the same way.
Steelers fans, though, can have the same hope Heyward does — that Canada is waiting until the regular season to open up the playbook.
The past two seasons, Canada hasn’t necessarily had a lot to work with at quarterback. In 2021, Ben Roethlisberger was at the tail end of his career, and then last year, Pickett was a rookie.
That could explain why his playbook has been vanilla.
Then again, Canada has yet to really prove he has a deep playbook that he can open this season. But one way or another, he better elaborate his play calling soon because no one will allow the quarterback to be an excuse for him in 2023.
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