Matt Canada fired - what does that mean for Kenny Pickett?

It's finally happened. Matt Canada is fired, and I couldn't be happier, as I am sure the sentiment is shared by all of you.

So, what does this mean for the Steelers and moving forward? Well all eyes will be on Kenny Pickett from now until the end of the season. Whoever the new offensive coordinator will be, they will have their work cut out for them, and the next few months will either have a renewed faith in Pickett, or the pitchforks will be out on the North Shore.

I know Steelers nation is all but done with Pickett and after his performance last week, I can't blame anyone. I am on the cusp; I may be one of a very few that is still willing to give Pickett a chance with the release of Canada. 

So, let's take a look at why you're all correct and I'm an idiot. I want to compare him to Mr. Irrelevant really quick, Brock Purdy. Purdy this season has 2,662 pass yards, 18 TD's and 5 INT's, Pickett has 1,722 pass yards, 6 TD's and 4 INT's. Now, it can be said that Purdy has an overpowered offense and having the likes of Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, and George Kittle can make it a hard comparison, but it's not. Pickett has Jalen Warren starting to blow up, George Pickens should be one of the best receivers in the NFL, sure Diontae Johnson still has a few drops this season but he has gotten better. Pat Freiermuth is back in action and yet only saw one target in Sunday's loss, Calvin Austin had none. Pickett has the weapons at his disposal, none are being utilized properly.

So let's go a step further. CJ Stroud is in his rookie season and has already thrown for 2962 yards, 17 TD's and 5 INT's. Stroud is working with a rookie wideout in Tank Dell that is looking like a star, and Nico Collins is already beating his first two season stat lines in nine games this year in every category. It's not as if Stroud inherited a high caliber offense on a winning team, quite the opposite. How is Stroud excelling and Pickett can't? Could it be the utilization of Stroud's strengths and the offenses being deployed properly?

I could go all day comparing Pickett to rookie QB's, second year starters who were drafted last, or even Josh freaking Dobbs. The point is he stinks, he stinks out loud, he stinks worse than Pittsburgh did in 1910 when Pittsburgh was producing 60% of Americas steel and hydrogen sulfide was all anyone could smell. 

This week the Steelers face the Bengals sans Joe Burrow. It may not be the best litmus test, but this is a must win in my opinion. Jake Browning has hardly a game under his belt and will be leading the already struggling Bengals who are 5-5. If the Steelers want to stay in the wild card hunt, they need this divisional win. 

After this weekend, the Steelers have the Cardinals, Patriots, Colts, Bengals again, Seahawks and finally the Ravens. If the offense can start producing, there's no reason they shouldn't win out until the Ravens in their final regular season game. 

I hate to say it but everything rests on Pickett's shoulders for the next six games of the regular season. What are my thoughts you ask? I think Pickett remains the starter no matter how bad until the end of the season, if he can't prove his poor performance was because of Canada, he's done. Give him the Mason Rudolph treatment and start looking elsewhere, whether that be on the trading block or in the draft. 

I may be holding on to college stats too heavily, but I'm having a hard time with Pickett being so bad in the NFL. I know a ton of QB's don't pan out, there are so many first rounders that turn out to be busts, and Kenny very well could be one of them. I may be hanging on to a thread by myself here, but I want to believe this is where Kenny has a revitalization. I very well could be, and most likely am, wrong here. He has very few reasons right now to trust in him to lead this team in the future. 

So let's all take a moment to rejoice that at least one of the Steelers woes is out of the picture. Maybe Pickett shows us how bad of an OC Canada actually was and converts us back to Pickettsburgh, or he shows that he is not the answer and it's time to move on. Either way, I feel a sigh of relief seeing Canada go.