Is firing Greg Roman going to solve this team's offensive woes?
Yes. Wait, no.
Maybe?
Greg Roman is a "trusted agent" of Jim Harbaugh. The game plans, the play calling, the 2014 offensive strategy as we've seen unfold has Harbaugh's fingerprints all over it. It could be argued that Harbaugh and Roman may be the closest companions this side of York & Baalke.
As a rabid fan base calls for blood and an owner tweets from above, Jim Harbaugh does not flinch.
I wonder if Cassie Baalke ruined her Dad's firing plans?
Make no mistake; the 49ers actually believed they could beat the Seahawks with the same game plan they've trotted out since Week One. "Four receiver sets and a pass heavy scheme to show off our new toys, Stevie and Lloyd", Roman and Harbaugh must have thought to themselves.
And Seattle just sat back and played defense.
Despite the message board demands, I believe the coaching staff understands the team's personnel just a tad better than the rest of us.
The reality is that this team is inherently broken on the offensive side given three major issues:
1. The offensive line has played with two new starters for much of the season and neither one are particularly good. And the unit as a whole isn't nearly as good as previous seasons.
2. (Perhaps a by-product of number one) Frank Gore has lost a step and Carlos Hyde has yet to set the league on fire.
3. Colin Kaepernick's inconsistent play
So the running game is struggling and the QB isn't playing particularly good enough to win football games. And we wonder why the offense is a mess?
While I believe Greg Roman has for the most part been an adequate play caller, it appears he hit his ceiling this season. It's unfortunate that it coincides with regressive play from some key positions, but perhaps that's just a coincidence?
Jim Harbaugh hand-picked Colin Kaepernick and it was Greg Roman who helped ease him into this offense in the middle of the 2012 season. They played to Kaepernick's strengths, careful not to bury their young QB with too much responsibility in the early stages. Safe to say it paid off the previous two post-seasons (for the most part).
The reality of this eventual undoing is that Harbaugh and Roman are more entrenched with one another than most fans assume. How does replacing Roman, but keeping Harbaugh, dramatically change this offense? Some fans would like to see both gone, and while I understand that sentiment, the idea of showing Jim Harbaugh the door is unsettling to this particular fan.
A coach of his pedigree isn't coordinating somewhere in this league. Trust me.
A new coordinator paired with Harbaugh might re-energize the vision, but how much will he be willing to concede to an outsider?
Could Hue Jackson or even an unemployed (guessing) Marc Trestman come in and be given the keys to the offense? I'm not sure Jim Harbaugh plays that way.
Perhaps there's a handful of fans who still believe in Greg Roman ("handful" might be generous)? Maybe the three items I listed above are the contributors of the demise and it's tough to envision any quality offensive coordinator doing better? Possibly.
Greg Roman cannot be faulted for all of the offensive woes, but when a unit as a whole is struggling there almost always has to be a fall guy.
That might be Roman.
But what if he's actually taking the fall for his head coach?
What if this all moot as both will be gone in four weeks?
Clearly Jed York has some decisions to tweet.
I mean make.
