The Buffalo Bills fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman on Friday, following their Week 2 loss to the New York Jets that left them 0-2 on the season.
The Bills announced Roman's departure via Twitter and noted that they promoted assistant head coach and running backs coach Anthony Lynn to be their new offensive coordinator.
ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported Roman's firing. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport provided additional details surrounding Roman's departure on Sunday:
Roman took over as Bills offensive coordinator in January 2015, after serving the same role the previous four years with the San Francisco 49ers.
The move is interesting on the Bills' part because of the timing and because they are just coming off a game in which the offense put up 393 total yards and scored 24 of the team's 31 points—the Bills scored one defensive touchdown on a fumble return.
According to Alex Marvez of Sporting News, the Bills front office "leaned on [Rex Ryan] to make a significant change in hopes of appeasing a disgruntled fanbase." Ryan said the decision came from him, though ownership was OK with the move, per Matthew Fairburn of New York Upstate.
"I have nothing but respect for Coach Ryan and I thought we had a great working relationship," Roman said Sunday, per Marvez. "We met and he informed me of his decision. I thought it was handled very professionally. We then discussed how we could best make this work for everybody moving forward."
On Sunday, Schefter reported Roman took part in the team photo on Friday before being told by Ryan the team was moving on. Schefter added that "some in the Bills organization thought the changes could have been even more extensive," and "some wondered whether Ryan would be sent packing Friday."
Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk doesn't understand the move on Buffalo's part:
Darin Gantt @daringanttShort of changing the spelling of his surname (replacing the OM with a Y) I’m not sure what more fired Bills OC Greg Roman could have done.
ESPN's Kevin Seifert did point out some baffling play calls against the Jets, notably when Tyrod Taylor split out wide and EJ Manuel was used as a short-yardage specialist. But Seifert also noted the Jets "throttled" the Bills defense, which is coached by Dennis Thurman and Rob Ryan.
Under Roman's guidance, Taylor had a fantastic 2015 season, with 3,035 passing yards and 20 touchdowns in 14 games, and the Bills rewarded him with a long-term contract extension.
When Ryan took over as head coach after the 2014 season, he inherited a defense that finished fourth in yards and points allowed. That group finished 15th in points allowed and 19th in yards allowed last season.
Roman did a lot more good than bad for the Bills, but Coach Ryan has always utilized a run-first style dating back to his time with the Jets. That wasn't working with Roman and running back LeSean McCoy.
Any time a team gets off to a slow start, especially one that wants to make the playoffs for the first time in 17 seasons, someone is going to take the blame.
Given the work he did with Taylor and previously with Colin Kaepernick in San Francisco during the 49ers' run from 2011 to 2014, Roman won't have to wait long before he finds employment with another NFL team.
