EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Will Greg Roman keep his job as Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator?
That is the most important question to monitor as the dust settles from the Chargers’ 16-3 playoff loss at the New England Patriots on Sunday night.
The tenor surrounding Roman has very clearly changed in the aftermath of an embarrassing offensive performance in Foxboro, Mass. The Chargers scored 3 points. The play calling from Roman was lacked identity and purpose. Quarterback Justin Herbert, for really the first time this season, looked indecisive and tentative. The running game, which Roman was brought in to establish, was nonexistent.
The Chargers have made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons under coach Jim Harbaugh, with Roman as their play caller. They scored 15 total offensive points in those two postseason losses — at Houston last season, and at New England this season. Those two games have been two of the worst of Herbert’s career.
When asked Sunday night if Roman is the right coach to be calling plays moving forward, Harbaugh was noncommittal.
“Right now, I don’t have the answers,” he said. “We’re going to look at that, and everything.”
But he is going to be looking at Roman specifically?
“Everything on our team,” Harbaugh said.
Everything, including Roman as the play caller?
“I don’t have that answer right now,” Harbaugh said. “I know you’re being very specific. We weren’t good enough as a team, and that’s what we do. We win as a team, we lose as a team, and that’s my responsibility to have that team in a better position.”
The Chargers landed back in Los Angeles early Monday morning. Players trickled into The Bolt throughout the afternoon to clean out their lockers, undergo physicals and attend exit meetings.
The comments on Roman were not exactly ringing endorsements.
Left guard Zion Johnson was asked about his experience playing under Roman for the past two seasons.
“Um,” Johnson started, collecting his thoughts. “I think he has a lot of creativity in his play calling, and I think it’s been good.”
End of response.
Center Bradley Bozeman, who played for Roman with the Baltimore Ravens and for the past two seasons with the Chargers, was asked the same question.
“He always tries to put us in the best situations that he can,” Bozeman said. “He always does his best in everything he does. There’s games where we’re not great (or) successful on offense, and some of it’s our fault, some of it’s scheme, some of it’s different things. It’s not all on one person. It’s not on one individual or one thing. So we’re a team. We’re all in this together. Everyone works in unison. If the scheme isn’t right and the players aren’t right or this or that, then it’s not going to work. Everyone has to be on the same accord.”
Two different mentions of the scheme.
Bozeman was then asked if he would like to see Roman continue on as offensive coordinator.
“That’s their call upstairs,” Bozeman said, referencing Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz. “I’ve had a longstanding relationship with G-Ro. He’s an amazing man. He’s great at what he does. And so like I said, that’s for them to handle upstairs.”
These comments are noteworthy coming from offensive linemen, who at times over the past two years have raved about Roman, publicly and privately. In a league that puts so much of an emphasis on passing and explosive completions, Roman has positioned himself as the last of a dying breed, a run-first coordinator who — at least outwardly — believes in allowing his offensive linemen to come off the ball and play downhill as ground-game blockers.
The Chargers entered this matchup against the Patriots believing they could run the ball effectively. An offensive line that had battled so many injuries this year, including losing star tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt for the season, was finally in a relatively healthy state. Trey Pipkins III and Jamaree Salyer, the backup tackles, started the game. The interior — Johnson, Bozeman and right guard Mekhi Becton — was healthy after sitting out Week 18 at the Denver Broncos.
The players were ready to attack on the ground. Roman called one run on the opening drive out of six plays, and it was a short-yardage give to running back Kimani Vidal.
The Chargers are supposed to be built to run the ball, but barely did so against the Patriots. (Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
The Chargers punted. The defense gave the offense the ball back after linebacker Daiyan Henley’s interception. That drive started on the New England 10-yard line. Roman called four plays. Three of them were passes. None of them involved a handoff to a running back.
The Chargers turned the ball over on downs. It was a perplexing sequence that seemed to run counter to a potential advantage for the Chargers up front — and to the identity Roman had tried to build over two seasons.
When asked about his experience playing for Roman this season, Becton said, “It was different. That’s all I got. I’m not (gonna) go into depths with everything. So yeah, it’s just different.”
Assigning blame is very challenging in football, because there are so many variables on every single play. Roman played a big role in the Chargers only scoring 3 points, their lowest total in any game started by Herbert over the past two seasons. But the players need to take accountability, as well. When the runs were called, the Chargers did not execute. They finished with a 26.7 percent rushing success rate, according to TruMedia. The game was begging for rookie running back Omarion Hampton, who was active after missing Week 18 with an ankle injury. Hampton only played two snaps.
In the second half, the Chargers were horrific in pass protection. Herbert was pressured on almost 66 percent of his dropbacks.
In the first half, the protection was more functional. But Herbert was not seeing the field well and did not locate open receivers. He looked antsy. He looked like he was scared to make a mistake after throwing four interceptions in last year’s playoff loss to Houston.
A recurring problem for Roman also came to the forefront: His scheme and route concepts do not give Herbert enough easy completions. Too often, a route concept develops without a viable safety valve. Case in point: On three plays Sunday night, Herbert checked the ball down to tight end Tucker Fisk.
Fisk is a solid blocker. He is not a good receiver.
Why was Fisk built in as the check down on multiple route concepts?
Across the league, there is evidence of forward-thinking offensive play callers getting the most out of their quarterbacks. Ben Johnson has Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears in the divisional round.
This season, the Chargers relied on Herbert making divine plays out of structure with his arm and legs.
On Sunday, Herbert was mortal, and the offense was lifeless.
“I mean, we scored 3 points last night,” receiver Ladd McConkey said Monday, when asked about Roman. “You can’t expect to win a game scoring 3 points. But I feel like over the last two years we’ve done a lot of good things.”
Roman deserves credit for how he managed a disastrous injury situation on the offensive line this season. He pieced together game plans that put the Chargers in a position to win, like against the Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys.
But he fell so incredibly short in the biggest game of the season that the Chargers must now consider changes. Add in what Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane told reporters Sunday night.
“After the game, talking to a few of the guys on their team, they had no clue what we were doing,” Spillane said. “They came up and said that, ‘We have no clue what you guys were in all game.’”
Herbert is six years into his NFL career. He has not won a playoff game in three trips to the postseason. He’s had four offensive coordinators and next year could include a fifth.
If that is what is necessary to get Herbert over this hump, then that is what the Chargers must do.
The overarching message that came out of Monday’s locker room was that the organization has to do more to put Herbert in a position to succeed. The Chargers have to protect him better, and they have to build a system that, through modern schematics, game planning and play calling, takes some of the weight off his shoulders.
At his news conference Sunday night at Gillette Stadium, Herbert was asked about his confidence in eventually getting his first playoff win.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t figured it out yet.”
Those words struck a chord with edge rusher Khalil Mack.
“He’s very hard on himself,” Mack said Monday of Herbert. “He’s got the heart of a champion, man, a grinder, a warrior. Special, man. … I can’t wait to see it all be put together. That’s just my hope and my prayer and my wish for him, to see it all be put together and him placed in a position to succeed at a very high level.”
Implied in these words: The Chargers have not put Herbert in this position yet.
The coming days need to be focus on making that a reality for their franchise quarterback.
The Chargers cannot waste another season.
“We know what this team can do,” McConkey said. “We got too many good players to not make that happen.”
