Latest chance for Roman to silence critics
Postseason success would help Ravens OC’s reputation
Nationally, quarterback Lamar Jackson might be the Ravens’ most polarizing figure.
But in Baltimore, that title belongs to offensive coordinator Greg Roman.
Over two seasons of record- breaking success and frustrating struggles, no one has been more consequential to the Ravens offense than Jackson, the NFL’s reigning Most Valuable Player. But a close second is the 48- year- old Roman, who in January 2019 was tapped to build a “revolutionary” system around Jackson’s unique talents.
As Jackson has dashed by defenders in the regular season, only to be stymied in some of the bigger tests of his career, Roman’s role has come under scrutiny. The offense’s ebbs and flows have evoked memories of previous Roman- led offenses,
which had bright starts and sour ends.
Andwith the fifth- seededRavens playing the fourth- seeded Tennessee Titans in the wild- card round Sunday, a rematch of last season’s playoff loss, Roman has a golden opportunity to change the narrative.
For better or worse, there is a symmetry to Roman’s past decade in the NFL.
Eric Davis, a former 49ers cornerback, recalled Roman’s 2012 season in San Francisco, his second year as the team’s offensive coordinator. After an injury sidelined starting quarterback Alex Smith, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, John’s brother, turned to Colin Kaepernick.
With a midseason overhaul he would later replicate in Baltimore, Roman pivoted to pistol formations and read- option schemes that better suited the speedy Kaepernick. It was a daunting task to take on, especially for a coach who’d coordinated only one offense in his career — a NewJersey high school’s. And yet ...
“Itwas a hit. Itworked, man,” saidDavis, who provided color commentary for 49ers radio broadcasts during Roman’s tenure.
With a formidable offensive line in place, Roman took a handful of talented skillposition players — Kaepernick, running back Frank Gore, wide receiver Michael Crabtree and tight end Vernon Davis ( Maryland)— andworked the new scheme to perfection, “attacking defenses with unorthodox angles,” Davis said.
The 49ers rode Kaepernick and an explosive offense, along with an imposing defense, to Super Bowl XLVII, where they came up just 5 yards short of glory against the Ravens.
“I rememberwatching his offenses, even back to [ the] San Francisco days, and he throws about asmuchat you and puts about as much pressure on you schematically in the run game as any coordinator in football,” said CBS analyst and former NFL safety Adam Archuleta, who covered the Ravens’ 38- 3 win Sunday over the Cincinnati Bengals.
When Roman and Kaepernick returned for their first full season together in 2013, San Francisco came within one tipped pass of a second consecutive SuperBowl appearance. But the offense had started to slip, with Kaepernick’s completion percentage and efficiency dipping from the previous year.
In a 2014 season filled with injuries and turmoil, the offense struggled and ranked among the league’s lowest- scoring units. According to Football Outsiders’ DVOA rankings, the rushing and passing offense regressed from top- 10 units in 2012 to merely average in 2014.
AsHarbaugh and the 49ers partedways, Roman and much of the remaining staff were fired. To some, the struggles of Kaepernick and the offense were an indictment of Roman and his philosophy, proof that an option- heavy offense so reliant on a quarterback’s legs was not sustainable.
“Every offense, regardless of what it is you do, is going to eventually slow down,” Davis saidwhenasked about the perception that opposing defenses had caught up to Roman’s schemes. “You’re going against professional defenders. You’re going against professional defensive coaches. So they’re going to study what you do.”
In 2015, RomanjoinedRexRyan’sBuffalo Bills staff as offensive coordinator. In his first season under Roman, Tyrod Taylor, another mobile quarterback, finished with the best statistical season of his career. Taylor was named to his first and only Pro Bowl, and Roman’s offense once again ranked in the top 10 in efficiency, according to Football Outsiders.
But despite Roman’s progress with Taylor in Year 1, he didn’t last through a second season. Ryan firedRoman after a 0- 2 start, a decision that still puzzles Buffalo News sports columnist Vic Carucci.
“Something went sideways,” said.
The Ravens hired Roman in 2017 as a senior offensive assistant and tight ends coach, and in 2018 he was promoted to assistant head coach. After an injury to quarterback Joe Flacco forced Jackson into the starting role as a rookie, Roman helped reconstruct the team’s running game.
The Ravens won six of their final seven games and claimed their first AFC North title in six years.
When offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg was not retained after the season, Romanwasnamedhis replacement. In 2019, the Ravens broke the NFL’s single- season rushing record and finished with the league’s most efficient passing and rushing offenses, and Roman was awarded theNFL Assistant Coach of the Year award.
“I think everything he’sbeendoing— and all the coaches have been doing — is trying to just find ourselves and what we can do well,” coach JohnHarbaugh said lastweek. “And then there’s growing in terms of execution, coaching the techniques and the assignments and all the little things that go with it. There’s a lot going on in any given play in football.”
Throughout this season, Roman’s passing offense has been criticized for its lack of creativity. Greg Cosell, a senior producer at NFL Films and analyst on ESPN’s “NFL Matchup,” called the passing- game
Carucci concepts “remedial.”
After a 28- 24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in which he had one catch, wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown tweeted,“What’s the point ofhaving souljas when you never use them ( Never!!).” Roman answered questions after Jackson said defenses were calling out the Ravens’ plays before the snap, concerns that Carucci held during Roman’s time in Buffalo.
But the Ravens’ season has been one of adjustments, on and off the field, and their offense has evolved as much as any in the league, changing how it attacks defenses not only on a conceptual level ( new inside- run schemes for Jackson) but also a procedural level ( a greater willingness to use play- action on first down). In their regular- season finale, theRavens rushed for a franchise- record 404 yards and became one of four teams since 1950 to run for 400 yards in a game.
“We’ve probably seenmore looks thatwe haven’t seen on film before than any other time in my career,” said Roman, whose offense finishedNo. 11 in DVOA this season. “And that goes back to last year, to a certain extent, but definitely this year. It’s been great for everybody — great experience having to adapt on the fly.”
“Every coach evolves,” Archuleta said. “Good coaches adapt to their players, what their players do well. No coach is perfect. No scheme is perfect. … If you try to be all things to everybody, you’re not going to be anybody at all. You do what you do best, and you double down on what you do best. You don’t try to placate critics.
“If he’s being him, then youdoyou. I can’t live in aworld wherewe try to bowdown to our critics. I look at this offense as one of the most difficult offenses to defend, and that’s good enough forme.”
Just a year ago, Roman’s ability to adjust in- gamewas questioned as he strayed from the run in the team’s 28- 12 loss in the divisional roundto the Titans. Aftermonths of tinkering, Roman and the offense might be better suited to play their game when it matters most.
“I think that he has a chance, a real chance, to answer a lot of those questions in a positive way if it turns around,” Carucci said. “To me, this is a defining postseason for him asmuch as it is with anyone else on the Ravens.”