Today is a big day for Pittsburgh Steelers fans like myself…
Mike Tomin made an announcement today that he finally decided to fire offensive coordinator Matt Canada after 2 and a half seasons, leading to a noticeable sigh of relief from fans as it appears the team is actually trying to make steps to win a Super Bowl and not just maintain a .500 winning percentage.
It was a historical announcement for the franchise, marking the first time since 1941 that the team had made a head coach or coordinator switch in the middle of a season.
Canada had long been the target of fans’ outrage at the inability of the team to score points and win more games.
They are currently have the 5th lowest yards per game and the 2nd lowest passing yards per game in the league. Despite sitting at 6-4, it was clear something had to change, as the defense couldn’t be relied on to bail them out of every game and counting on Kenny Pickett to make a 4th quarter comeback week in and week out was unsustainable, especially given the stats that have surfaced recently which show just how ineffective he’s been in his first 23 NFL games.
Fans of the Pat McAfee Show know just how widespread the calls for Canada’s release go. Chants of “Fire Canada” have been heard not only in the Steelers Stadium, but at Penguins’ games, in Utah, at James Madison, and even in Ohio, despite two of the Steelers biggest rivals being based in the state.
While it certainly doesn’t mean the team is out of the weeds yet, it signals to us fans that they are actively trying to make some changes to spur the offense and hopefully go on a playoff run for the first time in a few years.
Naturally, the Yinzers online have celebrating the occasion, but maybe there’s no better sign that this was long overdue than how a staple of the Pittsburgh community reacted.
Primanti Bros was founded in the Steel City back in 1933 and quickly became an institution of sorts for the area. Known for thick sandwiches stuffed with grilled meat, French fries, and coleslaw, it’s really as good of a chain as you can find anywhere. I’ve spent many a night and many a dollar pounding beers and housing New Yorkers (pastrami, corned beef, Swiss cheese, and spicy beer mustard) with the boys at the local Primanti’s.
Well, the company took to X to celebrate the monumental step the Steelers took to fix their season by offering something that fans are guarantied to love.
Free beer.
Here’s what they posted:
“Canned-ada (It’s purely coincidental that today’s the day we’re announcing that we’re giving away FREE beer this Friday.) #HereWeGo”
They then followed up with a post saying that all customers at their Pennsylvania locations will get a free bottle of domestic beer when visiting this Friday. While it’s not like the bar in Wisconsin that let’s customers drink for free if the Jets lose, it’s better than nothing.
Honestly, I think I’m going to have to make a trip to a Primanti’s to celebrate. As a lifelong Steelers fan and someone that has been over this inept offense for some time now, a cold, free IC Light is never going to taste so good.
Let’s hope the Steelers offense can go back to looking like it did in 2016 with Big Ben, Le’Veon Bell, and pre-CTE Antonio Brown.
I’d put a highlight video here but the NFL has them all blocked (thanks No Fun League), but it’s well worth a quick search to find them.
Dang was that team good…
