Coaching firings very rarely happen during the season. It just throws off the whole team concept. However, when a coach gets released in week 2, what is going on? That is what happened today when the Buffalo Bills fired OC Greg Roman.
Roman’s firing comes as somewhat of a surprise after the Bills put up 31 points last night, in a loss to the New York Jets. Head Coach Rex Ryan hired Greg Roman as his offensive coordinator when he was hired as Bills HC last season. But the offensive struggles were evident.
The Buffalo Bills finished 12th in points and 13th in yards in 2015. Thus far, after two games, in 2016 the Bills are ranked 23rd in points, 29th in yards, 30th in 1st downs, 24th in passing, and 23rd in rushing. Although Tyrod Taylor had 297 yards and 3 TDs last night his night was not fantastic. 155 yards and 2 TDs came on just two plays. The rest of the evening the Bills offense was relatively stagnant. They had 16 first downs and went 3-10 on third down conversions. This is what ultimately led to the release of Roman.
To replace Roman, the Bills have promoted Assistant Head Coach and Running Backs Coach Anthony Lynn to replace Roman. Lynn was a head-coaching candidate for several teams during the off-season. He has been Ryan’s RBs coach for several seasons, going back to his New York Jets tenure. As a running backs coach, Lynn’s backs have run for the most cumulative yards in that time. This could be why he is replacing Roman.
The Bills ground game has been non-existent in 2 weeks. They only ran for 83 and 86 yards against the Baltimore Ravens and Jets respectively. The ground game needs to improve for the Bills to have success with Tyrod Taylor and the passing game. There has been a struggle on offense with the Bills only reaching the red zone twice in their first two games.
Rex Ryan is never one to shock anyone. However, letting your OC go in week two may come as a surprise. But in this business, if you do not get the job done then the team must move on. Greg Roman was obviously not getting the job done.