Steelers fan confidence falls off a cliff as blame gets pushed on Matt Canada

The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off an offseason to remember, as well as a great start to the preseason. The key word to the previous statement was “start.” Following their Week 1 NFL Preseason win over the Seattle Seahawks 32-25 at Acrisure Stadium, the team was able to escape with a win vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars in Duval county. The following week, the Steelers beat the Detroit Lions at home, to finish the preseason 3-0.

Throughout the final two weeks of the exhibition season, several warts on the team’s roster were exposed. The offensive line struggled, the running game stalled and questions remained about the defensive’s ability to stop the run.

As you can imagine, Steelers fans weren’t brimming with confidence heading into their Week 1 game vs. the Cincinnati Bengals in Ohio. Nonetheless, the team found a way to upset the Bengals 23-20 in overtime and move their record to 1-0.

Such a crazy game, and victory, you’d think this would create a big bump in fan confidence, right?

Not so much.

The Week 2 loss to the New England Patriots, one where the offense essentially failed to show up, caused the Steelers fan base to lose faith, and in a hurry. The confidence poll taken below was actually done BEFORE the Steelers Week 3 game vs. the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football.

Imagine what the confidence chart will look like next week after the 29-17 prime time loss to the Steelers’ AFC North rivals.

As a part of SB Nation’s Reacts poll, sponsored by DraftKings Sportsbook, every fan who takes the poll, which equates to a lot of fans, were asked a simple question:

Are you confident in the direction of the team?

When you go back and look at all that has transpired this offseason, it could go either way. Now throw in a two-game losing streak, and the confidence has fallen off a cliff.

How far did it drop after the Week 2 loss? Try a 60% drop in confidence. Take a look at where the confidence was, and where it is now, below:

Preseason Confidence: 91%
Pre-Regular Season Confidence: 81%
Week 1 Confidence: 80%
Week 2 Confidence: 20%

With confidence waning, it felt obvious to ask a follow-up question. This follow-up question pertained to Steelers offensive issues. The Steelers simply can’t get anything going on offense, and it was right to ask who was to blame.

So, I decided to ask the fan base if they felt the offensive woes were a product of the coordinator, the quarterback or the entire offense. The response was very anti-Matt Canada.

When looking at the results of the poll, it is worth noting the lowest percentage was for the quarterback. In other words, the fan base is blaming Canada first, and Mitch Trubisky last. Worth noting as the team meanders their way throughout the regular season.

A lot can change throughout the course of a regular season, and we’ll be sure to keep you up-to-speed on the fan base’s feelings of the team. But what say you? Do you have confidence in the direction of the team? Is it too early to tell?

Let us know what you think in the comment section below, and be sure to stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the New York Jets in Week 4 of the regular season.

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