The Fall of the Roman Empire
Okay, that’s enough optimism let’s talk about the offense. This Broncos at Ravens game was an eye opener. Greg Roman needs to go.
He is one of the best run game coordinators in the entire league, but his passing scheme is unacceptable at best and dangerous at worst. Roman must’ve been up late the night before on a zoom interview with Stanford because the playcalling in this game was horrendous.
Take for example the play that nearly cost Lamar Jackson his season. It was a long-developing play-action pass play in which Lamar dropped 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage. When he finally set his feet to pass, there wasn’t a single receiver facing him making themselves available. Even his checkdown Gus Edwards was still running to his spot.
Meanwhile, Greg Roman had assigned tight end Josh Oliver to single-handedly block Broncos’ outside linebacker Jonathan Cooper. Of course, Cooper blows by Oliver and awkwardly brings down Lamar from behind.
Endless Examples
Another instance of the passing game’s incompetence came early in the third quarter, where, on a second and 7, well within Tucker’s field goal range, the Ravens’ called what was supposed to be the go ahead score. Up in the box, Greg Roman must’ve been absolutely beside himself, rubbing his hands together with mischievous delight, thinking he had dialed up a game-winning Philly Special, only for the play to backfire in epic fashion.
From the jump it was a clunky play, as Huntley and Duvernay weren’t on the same page resulting in an awkward hot potato handoff. From there, Duvernay flipped the ball back to James Proche who confidently patted the ball as he set his feet and blindly hurled it into triple coverage where it was intercepted.
During the Lamar era I’ve gone back and forth on whether Roman should be let go, but now I’m certain we need a new look. Ideally Roman would accept a demotion to become the league’s best run game coordinator, but that will never happen. I wish him the best wherever he goes and appreciate all he’s done to unlock and develop Lamar, but it’s time for a fresh face who can evolve this offense.
