Ben Roethlisberger shocks fans with Matt Canada comments

By now, you've heard the news that the Pittsburgh Steelers have shocked their fans by choosing to retain maligned offensive coordinator Matt Canada for next season on head coach Mike Tomlin's staff. The decision has been met with considerable backlash from fans and genuine surprise from media members, most of whom expected the two sides to part ways after the team finished 26th overall in NFL scoring.

But according to former Steelers quarterback and team legend Ben Roethlisberger, it's no surprise that the team ultimately went in the direction that they did with Canada's return, especially given their improved record in the second half of the season.

“I would say 7-2 down the stretch,” Roethlisberger said. “I thought if you look at everything … I know there were a lot of rumblings throughout last year about Matt, but look at the way they finished, going 7-2.”

But what does Roethlisberger expect to be different about next season's offense? 

“I would expect more aggressiveness,” he said.

Roethlisberger also singled out the performance of quarterback Kenny Pickett as well as Najee Harris for Pittsburgh's second half record.

“All of a sudden, they make a change to Kenny. There is still a learning curve both with those two together and Kenny in the NFL. He’s got to learn that. I thought Kenny got a lot better in the second half of playing,” Roethlisberger said.

“I thought Naj got better in the second half and ran harder. I thought the usage of Naj and Jaylen Warren was awesome. That helped both of them be better.”

Are you at all surprised by Big Ben's comments?