Matt Canada denies telling CBS that Steelers offense isn't built to come from behind

His play calling and the lack of production by the Pittsburgh Steelers offense already has put Matt Canada in the crosshairs with an unhappy fan base.

On Thursday, Canada found himself addressing another issue that has sparked outrage among Steeler Nation: his alleged comments to CBS that the Steelers’ offense isn’t built to overcome big deficits.

That is what announcers Spiro Dedes and Adam Archuleta said Canada relayed to the CBS production crew in a meeting Saturday, and Dedes relayed as much in the second quarter with the Steelers facing a 13-point deficit in an eventual 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans.

“They’re not quite built to come back from big leads, and so the way they start games is so critical (with a) young quarterback and so much newness in this young offense,” Dedes said on air about the meeting with Canada.

Speaking to the media Thursday at his weekly availability, Canada said that simply wasn’t true.

“That is an unbelievable misinterpretation of a conversation,” he said, adding, “I firmly believe we are built to come from behind.”

Canada explained that he was talking to the CBS crew about reasons for the Steelers abandoning the run late in the third quarter in Week 1 against San Francisco in contrast to the team’s success with the run and play-action pass in the Steelers’ Week 3 win at Las Vegas.

Canada said he pointed out that when the Steelers, trailing 27-7 against the 49ers, didn’t convert on a fourth-down pass with 2 minutes, 6 seconds left in the third quarter, he had to abandon the run.

“At that point, the plan wasn’t built to do that,” he said. “I believed we were going to win until the end. I kept throwing it. At no point was that conversation meant in that regards. I certainly believe (the CBS announcers) knew that, and it was taken wrong.”

Canada spoke passionately in his defense of his recollection about the CBS meeting.

“At no point do I doubt our players, doubt where we are, doubt we can come back. No doubts,” he said. “I was literally saying any football person would tell you that we were down three scores, 18 minutes to go, you’ve got to go faster, got to be in two-minute mode.”

Canada didn’t hear about what the announcers said on air until he was alerted by a Steelers media relations representative. He has not reached out to Dedes or Archuleta.

“I’m not aware of everything,” he said. “It’s your job, I get it. But that was not a fair assessment of how that went, in my opinion. I’ll only care about what our guys think, but since (the question) was asked, I wanted to clarify it.”

Slow starts by the offense have contributed to the Steelers (2-2) trailing by 20 points in each half against San Francisco and by 16 points at intermission against Houston. In the Steelers’ two wins — against Cleveland and Las Vegas — they have overcome much smaller deficits: four and seven points.

They play the Baltimore Ravens (3-1) on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.

“I’ve stood up here every time, I’ve never placed any blame anywhere but on me, and I’ve said every time I believe 1,000% in our players and coaches. If I haven’t been clear about that … I think I’ve been clear about that.”

The Steelers cut into their 16-point deficit in Houston by getting field goals on their first two drives of the second half. On their third possession, Kenny Pickett lined up in the shotgun on fourth-and-1 at the Houston 33 and attempted a pass. He was sacked for an 8-yard loss, injuring his left knee and exiting the game in the process.

The Steelers never got any closer.

“We’ve got to be designed to put up points and win games,” Pickett said. “That’s kind of what I care about. I don’t care if we’re behind or we’re ahead or whatever the situation may be. It’s our job to put more points on the board than the other team does. That’s what our goal and design need to be.”

The Steelers have not gotten points on their first or second drives through four weeks. Their 14 points in the first quarter are tied for No. 18 in the NFL, and their 36 first-half points rank tied for No. 22.

“Not good enough,” Canada said. “We’re not scoring enough. It has to be better.”