The “Fire Canada” chants are no longer contained to Acrisure Stadium. After Pittsburgh Steelers fans chanted for the firing of offensive coordinator Matt Canada for the second straight home game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Pittsburgh Penguins fans picked up the mantle during the team’s home opener at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.
The chant came in the middle of the first period, with the Penguins winning, 1-0, and was captured by Jenna Harner of our television partners, WPXI.
A “Fire Canada” chant has broken out here at the Penguins game pic.twitter.com/CeztxYWpv4
— Jenna Harner (@JennaHarner11) October 11, 2023
The Steelers have given no indication that they plan to move on from Canada. The Steelers’ players have rallied around their embattled coordinator, with running back Najee Harris taking issue with the criticism of him last week.
“We’ve got to execute the plays,” Harris said. “We’re not trying to point the finger at all. This is not the time to do that. It keeps being a conversation to be brought up, or not even brought up, but things that are talked about so much. It’s crazy. We have to execute at the end of the day, no matter who is back there calling the plays. I honestly say that we’re not doing that right now — not coaches. It has nothing to do with coaches. It’s just players. We have to play better.”
Through five weeks, the Steelers are 28th in scoring, 27th in yards and 26th in yards per play. They finished 2022 — Canada’s second season as offensive coordinator — 26th in scoring, 23rd in yards and 27th in yards per play.
Chanting FIRE CANADA! in the middle of the Penguins home opener is disrespectful to the team& its players. Your crappy football team will get to 9-8 and prop up its fraud coach soon enough. Respect the Penguins.
— Mark Madden (@MarkMaddenX) October 11, 2023