Ben Roethlisberger not surprised Steelers decided to stick with OC Matt Canada

As far as Ben Roethlisberger is concerned, the record speaks for itself when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ decision to retain Matt Canada as offensive coordinator.

In an interview Thursday on 102.5 FM, Roethlisberger said he wasn’t surprised to learn Canada will return for a third season overseeing the Steelers offense.

“I would say 7-2 down the stretch,” Roethlisberger said. “I thought if you look at everything … I know there were a lot of rumblings throughout last year about Matt, but look at the way they finished, going 7-2.”

Although the Steelers ranked No. 26 in scoring, they used that turnaround after the bye week to finish 9-8. They concluded the season on a four-game winning streak that nearly catapulted them into the AFC playoffs.

Roethlisberger said the development of rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett and an improved running game, led by Najee Harris, in the second half were contributing factors to Canada being retained.

“I thought Kenny played a lot better,” said Roethlisberger, whose final season with the Steelers coincided with Canada’s first as offensive coordinator. “You have to understand that Matt went into the season with Mitch Trubisky as his starter, so that is what he thought was going to happen.”

With the offense stagnating early in the season, coach Mike Tomlin benched Trubisky in favor of Pickett at halftime of the Week 4 game against the New York Jets. Pickett started every game but one the rest of the season.

“All of a sudden, they make a change to Kenny. There is still a learning curve both with those two together and Kenny in the NFL. He’s got to learn that. I thought Kenny got a lot better in the second half of playing,” Roethlisberger said.

“I thought Naj got better in the second half and ran harder. I thought the usage of Naj and Jaylen Warren was awesome. That helped both of them be better.”

With Pickett under center, Canada adopted a conservative approach in the second half of the season, one that emphasized long possessions and a lack of turnovers. Pickett threw just one interception after the bye week. He threw eight in the first half of the season.

Roethlisberger expects the offense to evolve in 2023.

“I would expect more aggressiveness,” he said.

Roethlisberger also addressed Diontae Johnson’s lack of touchdowns and the development of tight end Pat Freiermuth in his second NFL season.

“There is room for growth in terms of you didn’t see much from Diontae in touchdowns,” he said. “To me, that is as much Kenny and Diontae getting on the same page as it is Matt doing it. I’d like to see Pat get more involved.

“Having another year, I think you’ll see more improvements from that offense. The line played better in the second half than they did the year before.”

The improved offensive line play in the second half enabled Harris and Warren to establish a running game that was lacking in the first eight games. Roethlisberger also noticed the line buying more time for Pickett to move around in the pocket to look for open receivers.

With every starting offensive lineman under contract for 2023, Roethlisberger expects the offense to become more wide open.

“If you can keep that group together or add a piece, that would help in all phases,” he said. “Sometimes when you don’t take shots down the field, it’s because you don’t feel confident you have the time to do it. They have shown they have the weapons to get down the field. You’d like to see what that looks like next year.

“I’m not sure what next year is going to look like, but if I were a betting man, I’d bet on them taking more shots and utilizing George (Pickens) and Diontae and Pat more.”