Mike Tomlin's punishment for Matt Canada is borderline cruel

Matt Canada, objectively speaking, has not been effective in his role as offensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers. This year, the Steelers rank 29th in points and 30th in yards. That's nearly as bad as it gets on the offensive side of things.

Canada has drawn the ire of Steelers fans on social media all season long, with fans calling for his head on a platter nearly every week. Though it's unlikely Mike Tomlin fires him, it is a sure thing that fans will keep calling for his job week in and week out.

This week, it's going to be tough for him to ignore those calls for his job.

Matt Canada will be on-field for Steelers Week 9 game against Titans

Normally, Matt Canada operates the offense from the skybox, calling plays in from above while getting a broad view of things and, notably, sealing himself away from some of the fans close to the field who are booing him directly.

Not this week, though. Mike Tomlin is bringing Canada down to field level with him:

Thursday Night's game at Heinz, er, Acrisure Stadium, will obviously feature mostly Steelers fans. Canada will be within earshot for those who want to let him hear it.

Though it's unlikely the intention in the change here is to make Canada's life miserable -- I'll admit, my headline is at least somewhat in jest -- the punishment fits the crime. Canada hearing the vocal displeasure for his job performance should sure be motivation to buck up and finally figure it out with this offense.

In reality, Canada is probably getting down to field level to try to mix things up and get a new view and feel for things. There's seldom a reason to keep doing things the same way over and over when things aren't going well. This will allow him to directly communicate with offensive personnel which may result in quicker response to some of the in-game issues the team is facing.

But perhaps Tomlin is also perfectly fine with the unintended consequence of the punishment Canada will feel if the boos rain down on Thursday night...