Greg Roman's Dismissal Was Due
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Greg Roman's Dismissal Was Due
In this case, all roads lead away from Roman
The Ravens today did the inevitable, parting ways with Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman.
Like most issues with offensive coordinators in football, the problem was not the offense itself. It was with how the offense was executed.
What people forget is the epic offensive numbers that the Ravens put up in 2019, Roman’s first year as offensive coordinator. Once they installed the unique Ravens offense based on Lamar Jackson’s talents, the started scoring points at an unimaginable pace. The 2019 squad shattered the Ravens team record for points in a season, set an NFL record for team rushing yards, and barrelled to a 14-2 regular season record. That Ravens offensive was revolutionary for the NFL.
And then it all went downhill. Here are the Ravens average points per game in the Roman era:
2019: 33.2
2020: 29.3
2021: 22.7
2022: 20.6
That the team is scoring thirteen fewer points per game in the 4th year of Roman’s offense is alarming. And while injuries to Lamar Jackson and J.K. Dobbins account for some of that, it doesn’t account for all of it.
The thing that will best embody the Greg Roman era for me is this:
In a tie game, in the playoffs, on the road, in the 4th quarter, Roman called a quarterback sneak on third down.
You could argue that Huntley made the wrong decision in going high, that he dropped the ball. But Huntley didn’t make the call to go for a quarterback sneak on 3rd and goal in four-down territory.
The real problem with Roman’s offense was not in the offense itself, but with the execution of his offense. Roman regularly this season made inexplicable offense play calls at times that did not call for them. Passing on running downs, running on passing downs, or in this instance not handing the ball to the best offensive skill position player suited up for the Ravens, J.K. Dobbins.
That wasn’t the only instance on Sunday of that, either. Earlier in the game, Roman called a play that put Mark Andrews in motion into the backfield and then handed the ball off to him.
For much of the year, Roman was just overthinking the play call. It hurt the team, time and time again.
As far as Roman’s offense, I think it was fine for what it was. It was unique, the Ravens at times ran it to perfection. I think it many instances it is easier to find personnel to run it than it is for a lot of pro offenses. I’ll be interested to see which direction Harbaugh and company decide to go.
But in this case, all roads lead away from Roman.