Steelers HC Mike Tomlin Takes ‘Fire Canada’ Chants in Stride: ‘We Love Our Fans’

PITTSBURGH — The Steelers got a surprise last night when, after a failed 3rd and one option play, Kenny Pickett got stunned in the backfield, forcing the team to punt the ball. The stadium erupted into “Fire Canada” chants that even were audible on television.

While players such as Kenny Pickett said they did not hear that last night, Mike Tomlin acknowledged the boos that rained down on the Steelers offensive coordinator. He did not chastise the fans for doing that and even called for the offense to get their “mojo” back after struggling mightily in the first two weeks of the season.

“I appreciate their passion,” Tomlin said. “I share their passion. We all do. Man, we love our fans, man. They inspire us. They challenge us. It’s an awesome relationship. Man, we don’t run from challenges, we run to challenges. This is the sport-entertainment business. It is our job to win and thus entertain them. And so we don’t begrudge them for that. We want them to be fat and sassy and spoiled. It is our job.”

However, Tomlin does not necessarily agree with the critiques. While he understands where the passion comes from, he sees the offense in a different light. In other words, do not get your hopes up for an immediate firing of Canada. That could come at some point, but the offensive issues were blamed not just on Canada but on execution by Tomlin.

“I don’t share their concern because of my perspective,” Tomlin said. “I’m a part of the process and when you’re a part of the process, it’s less troublesome to you.”

The offense has scored just 19 points in two games. In Week 2, 24 teams scored 20 points or more. Canada has yet to engineer a game where the Steelers’ offense has put up over 400 yards under his guidance. The stats show how poor the group’s performance has been since Canada took over as offensive coordinator.

It is hard to see where this team will go with Canada at the helm. With their young quarterback struggling on top of it, the Steelers’ offense remains in dire straits after a promising preseason. They have to find some rhythm that will allow Pickett to pop a bit more despite all the questions from Canada.