In the wake of the 49ers loss to the Rams last Sunday the grumbling among those calling for the dismissal of offensive coordinator Greg Roman has turned into a roar. That's understandable. The 49ers find themselves with a record of 4-4 and teetering on the edge of elimination from the playoff race. Fans look at the run to pass ratio and point to that as the reason their team lost the game. "Roman isn't playing to the strength of his team" they say.
There is definitely some truth in that. Against the Rams the 49ers called only 18 running plays to 41 pass plays. That doesn't look like the 49ers way at all. As Colin Kaepernick ran for his life in the first half, getting sacked six times Roman continued to dial up pass play after pass play.
Let's go back a step to the calls for Roman's head. By now everyone should know that calling for Roman to be fired is also calling for Jim Harbaugh to be fired. Every call that is made on game day goes through Harbaugh and at times he will override the call from Roman. Harbaugh admitted as much in his Monday press conference following the Kansas City Chiefs game when questioned about a failed play call, "And then the next play call was mine. I really felt, if he was going to pursue like that, then we could run the quarterback keep around the edge. And Tamba played it different. So that hurt us on that last attempt to really get the ball into the end zone. He played it different. Kap made a spectacular effort of not losing too many yards. I got outsmarted on that one." The offense isn't strictly a Greg Roman production. It's a Greg Roman/Jim Harbaugh production. Let's call it a Rombaugh production.
Now on to the run to pass ratio. Rombaugh did struggle through the first half. There's no excuse for calling 24 pass plays and only 9 running plays, especially when it is clear that your offensive line is struggling to pass protect.
Rombaugh recognized this failing at halftime and adjusted accordingly. In the second half the 49ers offense had a run to pass ratio of 9 to 8 through the first three possessions. It wasn't until they fell behind 13-10 with 5:25 remaining that things got out of whack, and even then the blame shouldn't rest on Rombaugh.
On the first possession after the Rams took the lead the 49ers faced a manageable 3rd and 4 situation at their own 27 yard line. Rombaugh dialed up the perfect play call, a staple of their offense since 2011. They spread the field and called for Michael Crabtree to run an inside screen. The play was wide open for an easy first down. One problem. The quarterback didn't make the necessary throw, leading Crabtree to the point that he could barely get his hands on the ball. Missed opportunity.
On the final possession of the game the 49ers offense moved the ball down to the doorstep of the Rams endzone. Rombaugh again went to a staple of their offense. A play that if you're old enough to have watched the magic of Montana to Rice you will recognize. The play called for the quarterback to roll to his right and hit the receiver in the flat. And it would have worked to perfection had the quarterback made the throw. Instead it was off the mark and Crabtree was forced to dive for the ball which took him out of the endzone. Missed opportunity.
Earlier today on Sirius XM Radio, Joe Montana himself weighed in on the 49ers offense saying that Rombaugh need to, "spring Kaepernick out of the pocket more often to utilize his play-making skills."
Guess what Joe. They did.
Rombaugh didn't call their best game ever on Sunday, but when the chips were down late they put their players in position to succeed. And the quarterback failed.