It’s Time To Follow Najee Harris’ Lead
Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
The torches are lit and the pitchforks are out in Steeler Nation as the angry Black and Gold mob has their sights set on a monster that goes by the name of Matt Canada.
Four games filled with mostly putrid performances have pushed an already impatient fan base over the edge with their offensive coordinator. Calls for Canada’s job have grown so heated that they’ve pushed some warmth onto head coach Mike Tomlins’ seat.
But in football, as in life, things are rarely as simple as they appear. Football is a nuanced game and as much as we the general public and media like to believe we understand its intricacies from our press boxes or couches, that is rarely the case.
In the face of deafening complaints about the coaching, Steelers running back Najee Harris took time on Wednesday to remind everyone of the shared responsibility that exists in professional sports.
“The coaches only coach,” Harris said after practice. “At the end of the day, we got to do what we have to do. I see everybody talking about this coaching stuff about play-calling. Do y’all know how football works? Coaches only can coach, but we got to execute the plays. We’re not trying to point the finger at all. This is not the time to do that either. It keeps being a conversation brought up or not even a conversation brought up, but things that’s just talked about so much. It’s crazy. We have to execute at end of the day, no matter who’s back there calling the plays… It has nothing to do with coaches. It’s just players. We have to play better.”
Najee Harris on criticisms of #Steelers’ coaching and play calls:
“We’re not looking to point the finger … WE have to execute. We can’t keep looking at whatever y’all putting out there as an outlet, that’s stupid … this is the NFL. Everyone runs the same damn plays …” pic.twitter.com/qPugVRnyw9
— Christopher Carter (@CarterCritiques) October 4, 2023
Whether or not Canada’s culpability in this team’s failure has risen to the level of dismissal or not, accountability in football is a multi-level concept. Just because the offensive line succeeds at downhill, between-the-tackle running doesn’t mean that Matt Canada is committing malpractice by expecting his lineman to execute outside runs. Just because Kenny Pickett can’t help but spin into traffic constantly doesn’t mean the coordinator is wrong to call longer-developing pass plays. And just because everybody wants Canada to feed the ball to their favorite preseason star receiver doesn’t mean Canada should force the ball to George Pickens when he can’t seem to get separation on most of his route tree.
No one here is denying the dysfunction in Pittsburgh, and we’re certainly not advocating to keep Canada on staff through the bye week. But when Tomlin promised changes after the blowout against the Houston Texans, I don’t think firing a single coach is what he had in mind.
The complexity of each and every single play in the NFL is shocking to an outside observer. All you have to do is listen to a quarterback calling a play in the huddle to understand the amount of assignments given and the list of things that need to go right for the team to succeed on each and every down. If one of the links in the offensive chain breaks, it can derail the whole operation. Aaron Rodgers famously recanted this idea last year during the Green Bay Packers’ struggle. He focused on how easy it was for a single mistake to derail an entire team’s execution.
Rogers knew what Harris and anyone who actually plays the game knows: that there is a responsibility held by the players on the field to do their jobs in a way that allows their coaches to do their jobs.
While the general public is out calling for heads, the Steelers players would be wise to follow Harris’ lead and focus on what they need to do as individuals and as a team to slip out of their funk.
Things aren’t going to get any easier with another divisional opponent on Sunday. But whether or not this team exits the bye week with Matt Canada as their offensive coordinator, there are a lot of people who need to do a much better job executing if this team is going to have any chance moving forward. Harris knows it and if we’re willing to put our rage down and pay attention we will come to understand that too.
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