Offseason Exit Looming for Jim Harbaugh, Greg Roman with 49ers' Season in Doubt

In early November, when the San Francisco 49ers stood at 4-4 after a tough loss to the division rival St. Louis Rams, head coach Jim Harbaugh was asked at a Monday press conference if he was satisfied with offensive coordinator Greg Roman's performance. 

“As you watch the tape, you see where we all have fingerprints on this from an offensive perspective,” Harbaugh said, per ESPN.com's Paul Gutierrez. “It wasn’t just one guy. Wasn’t just one player, wasn’t just one coach. So that’s what I saw.”

Unfortunately for the organization, Harbaugh couldn't have been more right: The 49ers' woes this season start at the very top and trickle down, from general manager Trent Baalke to Harbaugh to Roman and finally the personnel. 

Owner Jed York took to Twitter to express his disappointment with the team's performance Thursday night.

It's been a surprise, to say the least, to see a team flounder so obviously after looking so complete this offseason that its draft was essentially an embarrassment of riches. Sitting at 7-5 after a Thanksgiving Day trouncing by the Seattle Seahawks, perhaps the most concerning issue for San Francisco has been its division play.

While the 49ers had a pair of early-season wins against strong competition in Dallas and Philadelphia, they are just 1-3 against division rivals and third in the NFC West behind the 9-2 Arizona Cardinals and 8-4 Seattle. 

And while San Francisco's issues on offense have been varied, the blame starts at the top. 

On November 3, former 49ers quarterback Steve Young remarked that the 49ers looked "broken," and Baalke couldn't refute that. "There are some things broken," he said on his weekly radio show, via the San Jose Mercury News' Cam Inman. "You can’t keep doing the same things over and over, can’t keep making the same mistakes over and over."

Yet exactly that—trying the same thing over and over—is part of what has plagued San Francisco this season. Roman's play-calling has been questionable at best at points this season and downright disastrous at worst. 

Who can forget the 13-10 loss at home to the St. Louis Rams in which, on 1st-and-2 with one minute to go, the 49ers attempted three passes in a row that did not include handing the ball off to Frank Gore? There was a completion to Michael Crabtree for one yard, an unsuccessful play-action attempt and a quarterback sneak by Colin Kaepernick that resulted in a game-ending fumble.

In fact, Roman's curious unwillingness to hand Gore the ball in appropriate situations has been evident all season. Over the last three seasons, since Roman began his tenure as offensive coordinator, Gore has averaged 1,184 yards and eight touchdowns per season. 

In 2014, he's on pace for 912 yards and three touchdowns. 

But how could his production not drop, given his decrease in use? Over the last three seasons, Gore averaged 272 carries. This season, at 181 through 13 games, he may barely break 200.

Why is Roman letting go of a good thing? Back in October, the offensive coordinator explained that limiting Gore's carries was a conscious effort, per CSN Bay Area's Matt Maiocco: 

"We don’t want to just ride that stallion all day, every day," Roman said. "There’s a point of diminishing returns at some point. That’s almost true for any player at that position. Who gets hit more than running backs?"

But what's really been diminishing is the 49ers' passing game. Kaepernick threw a season-low (to that point) 193 yards against the New York Giants in Week 11 and then just 121 against Seattle. Perhaps knowing San Francisco isn't going to be shoving Gore down anyone's throats, defenses have been game-planning to take away the passing game instead, exposing the 49ers' one-dimensional attack. 

Perhaps Roman would have more flexibility if Kaepernick was able to outmatch such defenses, but this season Kaepernick has looked dangerously like a one-read quarterback. If all defenses need to do to stop him is take away his first read and limit his ability to take off running when that falls apart, it won't be difficult. 

He was at his worst against Seattle, finishing 16-of-29 for two interceptions and zero touchdowns. He missed countless open receivers and got burned for tempting Richard Sherman. 

With Kaepernick's recent performances, is the front office's decision to sign him to a six-year, $126 million extension quickly becoming inauspicious? Or—more likely—are Harbaugh and Roman not using him ideally?

The 49ers' most successful offensive identity is the power-running game, not trying to turn Kaepernick into a pocket passer. Roman's play-calling has diminished rather than highlighted that former strength. 

Meanwhile, Harbaugh insisted back in September that reports he was losing his locker room were "a bunch of crap," per Lindsay H. Jones of USA Today Sports. But after the Seattle loss Thursday, the team has little to be thankful for. In the second-to-last year of his contract, has Harbaugh really made a case this season for an extension?

The 49ers offense is loaded with talent at every position. But perhaps next season is an opportunity to bring in a head coach and offensive coordinator who know how to better utilize it.