As the Steelers’ offense sputtered and stalled this season, some version of the same question became a fixture at coach Mike Tomlin’s news conferences.

What is your faith in offensive coordinator Matt Canada? Would you be open to change? Could a midseason shakeup come?

“I’m not changing for the sake of changing,” Tomlin said sternly after the Bills handed the Steelers a 35-point loss in Week 5, their most-lopsided letdown in more than three decades. “I’m changing if I feel it produces a better desired outcome in any area. We’re looking at those things. We’re open to those things, but not in an effort to quell the masses.”

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Two weeks later, the results remained the same — and so too did the line of questioning. Asked again why the Steelers were not making a move, as they lugged around one of the NFL’s worst offenses, Tomlin quipped back: “Because I don’t feel like I’m there.”

As it turns out, that moment never arrived.

After a delay while Tomlin tended to a personal matter, a team source confirmed Wednesday that the Steelers will keep Canada for a fourth season with the organization and a third season as coordinator and play caller. Pittsburgh finished the 2022 season ranked in the bottom third in several statistical categories, including, most significantly, 25th in points scored (17.7), despite improving in many categories from 2021.

While Canada’s job status became a source of non-stop scrutiny and speculation, a decision that felt almost inevitable at the season’s midpoint became much more complicated than it once seemed.

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Early, the Steelers slogged through uncertainty at quarterback, starting Mitch Trubisky before finally turning to Kenny Pickett in the middle of Week 4. However, the switch at signal caller led to little change on the scoreboard. The run game, led by Najee Harris, spun its wheels. And inside the locker room, a number of players questioned the play calling — as early as Week 2, following a loss to the Patriots — demanding more deep balls and routes over the middle.

“We got playmakers, but I don’t know if we have an identity,” said receiver Chase Claypool, who was traded to Chicago during the bye week.

By the time the Steelers limped into the bye week at 2-6, they sat dead last in scoring, averaging just 14.1 points per game. The rest of the offensive stats weren’t much better. Pittsburgh ranked 28th in yards per game (299), 25th in rushing (94.9), 24th in passing (204), 28th in third-down efficiency (33.6 percent) and 27th in red zone efficiency (47.6 percent).

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While the Steelers had a number of young, new pieces on offense, they had also invested heavily enough on this side of the ball that the production should have been better. The skill positions were bursting with pedigree, with first-round picks at quarterback (Pickett) and running back (Harris), and second-round picks at receiver (George Pickens and Claypool) and tight end (Pat Freiermuth). The team had also rewarded Diontae Johnson with a two-year, $36.71 million deal.

Can’t you do better with all that talent?

“I’ve got a family. I have people that care about me, so I’m not naive (to outside criticism),” Canada said in late October. “I have a job that everybody talks about. I wouldn’t want to have any other job.”

Over the final nine games of the season, Canada began to unlock his playmakers and develop a rapport with the young quarterback to make his case to keep that job.

Steelers 2022 grades: Kenny Pickett, entire offense must be judged on a curve

via @TheAthletic

— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) January 12, 2023

The most significant improvement came on the ground, as a healthier Harris gained yards in chunks behind a cohesive offensive line. Over the final nine games of the season, they averaged 146 yards per game on the ground, which ranked seventh-best in the league over that span. The success on first and second downs set the stage for the Steelers to become the NFL’s best third-down team over the final nine games, converting 54.3 percent.

This led to progress in the only stat that really matters: scoring. Despite more red zone woes, the Steelers averaged 20.9 points per game over the final nine games. That ranked a much-more respectable 15th.

“We have some work to do, but largely I thought he got better in the ways that we got better, so it was encouraging,” Tomlin said in his season-ending news conference.

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The challenge for the Steelers was to isolate variables in a complex equation. How much blame did Canada deserve for the early-season shortcomings? How much credit should he get for the second-half improvements?

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As the Steelers wrestled with this decision, the most significant factor was the quarterback. The Steelers had already entrusted Canada with the final year of Ben Roethlisberger’s Hall of Fame career. In his first year as an NFL play caller, Canada’s offense finished 20th in scoring offense, averaging 19.8 points per game. That was Roethlisberger’s quietest offensive output in a decade.

The hope coming into this year was that a new, young quarterback would have the necessary mobility to extend plays, a fresh arm to attack downfield and, maybe most important, an open mind that would allow Canada to unfurl his entire playbook full of pre-snap motions and shifts.

Through Pickett’s first four-plus games, progress came slowly. Before the bye week, he had thrown eight interceptions against two touchdowns, producing a passer rating of 66.8. However, at least publicly, Pickett said that he had begun to develop a solid relationship with his play caller.

“We have a really good relationship where we can talk about pretty much anything,” Pickett said. “We’re open and honest on what I see. He asks me all the time. I think that open line of communication is just going to continue to improve.”

Just like the rest of the offense, Pickett came out of the bye week to show tangible growth. Over his final eight games, Pickett threw five touchdowns while tossing just a single interception. Those improvements on the stat sheet underscored the development behind the scenes, as the rookie became more comfortable with the varied looks from NFL defenses and all the nuances of Canada’s offense.

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“I feel like the offense started to become my own the more I was playing in it, taking real ownership of it instead of just kind of playing catchup,” Pickett said after the season finale against the Browns. “When I was thrown in there a little bit earlier, I was just worried about executing the plays. Now I felt like I had everything at my disposal when I was coming to the line of scrimmage.”

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The questions the Steelers had to ask themselves were numerous: How long would it take Pickett to achieve that same familiarity with a different coordinator and a different system? Is Canada the best offensive coordinator to maximize the first-round investment? Would changing coordinators set Pickett back or set the stage for more growth in Year 2?

After months of questioning, we finally have our answer. Heading into his second season, Pickett will have plenty of continuity. Can he and the offense continue the upward trajectory of the last two months?

(Photo: Charles LeClaire / USA Today)