What If: Matt Canada Edition

It’s November 17, 2018 at Byrd Stadium in College Park. It’s overtime. The Maryland Terrapins are at home going for a two-point conversion  and a stunning upset of ninth-ranked Ohio State. Interim head coach Matt Canada has a play drawn up, but as the play clock is about to expire he calls timeout. He switches his play call to a run to Anthony McFarland, who has already rushed for 298 yards. Some of his assistants argue against that decision, but Canada insists. The ball is snapped, Tyrell Pigrome hands the ball to McFarland, and he fights his way into the endzone to get the conversion and the win. As the fans storm the field and the goalposts come tumbling down, the athletic director and fellow board members realize that even though they’re still on the fence about Canada’s ability as a head coach, they have no choice but to offer him the job now. Having taken over in April after the tragic death of Jordan McNair, the groundswell of support by the local media is too much to ignore especially after a top 10 victory and a bowl bid. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers finally put their fans our of their misery last week when it fired Matt Canada as its offensive coordinator. But as the above scenario shows, he was almost unavailable in the first place – his Maryland team was literally two yards away from putting him into a position where he almost certainly would have gotten the interim tag removed and given him a multi-year contract. This means that the Steelers “unfortunately” wouldn’t have been able to hire Canada as their QB coach. Let’s see how Steelers history would be different if this happened. 

I am only going up to the end of the 2022 season. You;ll see why at the end!

New QB coach and 2020 offseason 

Mike Tomlin still needs a QB coach. Seeing that Canada isn’t available, he goes out and gives Mike McDaniel an offer he can’t refuse to be the QB coach and next offensive coordinator after Randy Fichtner retires.  

The rest of the offseason stays the same because McDaniel being the QB coach won't change any of the decisions made. 

2020 season

While you would think the season would stay the same, that would be boring. Let's fast-forward to the wild card game against the Browns. If you think the Steelers are getting blown out again like in real life, you are sadly mistaken. McDaniel has been secretly scheming the Steelers offense and switching  Fichtner plays with his own plays, so this time it’s the Steelers that dominate the Browns. The game gets so bad that Myles Garrett gets mad and takes a Steelers player's helmet and throws it towards the Steelers bench. He gets tossed from the game as the Steelers win 48-27. 

The Steelers then get destroyed by the Bills  because Josh Allen carves up the Steelers defense and the offense can’t keep up. The rest of the playoffs stay the same and the Buccaneers still win the Super Bowl. 

2021 offseason 

For starters the Steelers free agency stays the same but we have a trade to announce. McDaniel pleads with Tomlin to trade a fourth round pick for Raheem Mostert. Tomlin says he loves the game tape of Najee Harris at Alabama and thinks he can be the next Le’Veon Bell, which leads McDaniel to say  “We need offensive line help, among other things. A first round running back is useless. And is the next Le’Veon Bell really a good thing? We could do without that drama, please and thank you.” Tomlin is finally convinced and the Steelers make the deal for Mostert. 

Now let’s get to the draft. The playoff win means that the Steelers move back to pick 28. But they don’t have it for long. The Steelers trade pick 28, a 2022 first and a 2021 third round pick to the Lions for pick 7.  With the seventh overall pick, the Steelers select offensive tackle Penei Sewell. Then with the second round pick, the Steelers select center Creed Humphrey because tight end Pat Freiermuth is off the board. The rest of the draft stays the same.

2021 Season 

With improvements at offensive line,  the Steelers improve a bit and drag Ben Roethlisberger into the playoffs with a 10-7 record. McDaniel is still calling and creating all the schemes and plays. Mostert fits into the system well and the defense continues to be the top unit in the league. 

But the one problem is that the Steelers then have to face the Chiefs in the wild card round.  Andy Reid, Erik Bienemy and Patrick Mahomes destroy the Steelers defense and the offense only puts up 17 points. The Steelers are eliminated and Roethlisberger and Fichtner retire. 

2022 offseason

McDaniel takes over as offensive coordinator.  In free agency, the Steelers sign Marcus Marriota instead of Mitchell Trubisky and the rest of free agency stays the same. 

Now let’s get to the draft. It’s filled with controversy because Detroit takes Kenny Pickett with the first-round pick that was originally Pittsburgh’s, given up in the Sewell trade. The Steelers lose the chance to draft the hometown Pitt quarterback and some fans are angry (although others aren’t so sure that trade didn’t save the team from making a huge mistake). The Steelers still select George Pickens, which makes McDaniel very happy. The Steelers continue the focus on offense by picking Damien Pierce, Chigoziem Okonkwo and Sam Howell.  

2022 season

With McDaniel as the offensive coordinator and the defense still elite, the Steelers come into the 2022 season with high expectations. The Steelers start the season 5-1, with the offense and defense firing on all cylinders. McDaniel implements a fast-paced offense that runs down teams throats. The defense is the best in the league as Steelers fans are in the streets screaming that their team is going to the Super Bowl. Just as things seem to be the best they’ve been since the Chuck Noll era, Marriota gets hurt against the Dolphins. Howell comes in and doesn’t look ready at all, and the Steelers fall to 5-2.  Mariotta isn’t able to play for the rest of the season and Howell has to take the reins.

McDaniel then changes some of his offensive schemes to be a more West Coast style team. Howell steps up and the team finishes the season with a 11-6 record. 

In the playoffs the Steelers play the Jaguars in the wild card round  and go up 27-0  at the end of the first half. Unlike Chargers head coach Brandon Staley, Tomlin and McDaniel run the ball and kill the clock to win 30-20.

In the divisional round the Steelers play the Chiefs. The game goes back and fourth and the Steelers are driving down the field to tie the game on the last drive. Howell takes the snap and throws the ball to Mostert who promptly fumbles. The Steelers lose. Still, Steeler fans are excited about their team’s future… That is until the offseason. 

The final chapter

There's some good news and some bad news at the end of the 2022 season. The good news is that the Steelers kept it competitive with the Chiefs and look like a team on the rise. The bad news is that McDaniel leaves the Steelers to become the head coach of the Houston Texans. To replace him, the Steelers try to get Bienemy from the Chiefs, but he still goes to the Commanders. So Tomlin hires his friend, the recently fired Matt Canada.  Tomlin assures everyone that the offense is in good hands with Canada but some people have their doubts. Maybe the timing is better in this scenario and Canada has developed enough to succeed. Or maybe this just pushes back the “Fire Canada” chants for a few years. You’ll have to write your own “what if” to answer that question.