Is It Time for 49ers to Cut Ties with Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman?

Few members of the 49ers' coaching staff have come in for as much criticism as offensive coordinator Greg Roman.

Roman's play-calling has been questioned throughout his time in San Francisco and is being blamed for the spotty performance of an offense that has the talent to play at a much higher standard.

The Niners' season reached a nadir on Sunday with a 13-10 home loss to the St. Louis Rams that dropped Jim Harbaugh's club to 4-4 on the year. It was a dismal showing in which they were unable to move the ball consistently against a defense ranked at No. 18 in the league and a team that had surrendered 207 points prior to the Week 9 encounter.

There were other contributing factors to a defeat that was arguably the worst regular-season setback of Harbaugh's tenure but, following this most recent disappointment, it is time investigate whether Roman should be let go by a franchise in desperate need of a quick turnaround in order to have any chance of reaching the postseason.

Play-Calling

The issue of Roman's play-calling has been bubbling under the surface for some time in San Francisco and was thrust into the spotlight on Sunday in one of the most bizarre goal-line sequences in recent memory. 

Trailing 13-10 in the final minute with three plays from inside the Rams' 2-yard line to win the game, the 49ers first started with a pass to Michael Crabtree that was ruled as complete at the 1-yard line in a controversial decision by referee Jerome Boger.

An unsuccessful play-action pass followed on second down before Colin Kaepernick attempted a quarterback sneak on the next play, losing the ball after a botched snap with rookie center Marcus Martin, recovering it and then relinquishing control again as he attempted to cross the plane. 

The fumble was recovered by Rams linebacker James Laurinaitis in the end zone, clinching the game for St. Louis, as Boger upon review was unable to determine whether Kaepernick had control of the ball when he crossed the goal line.

Laurinaitis, per Peter King of The MMQB, quickly voiced his surprise at the Niners' decision making down in the red zone and in doing so got to heart of the issue for most San Francisco fans.

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I was shocked to see it [the ball] there, of course. The whole play was surprising. The play before, they go play-action and don't give it to Gore. Then on the last play, they don't give to Gore either. But I could sense when they got on the ball they were probably going to sneak it.

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Roman's apparent unwillingness to use Gore has been a theme of San Francisco's season but the fact that the Niners did not hand the ball to their all-time leading rusher with the game on the line has left most 49er fans perplexed and aghast by their team's offensive strategy.

It was a series that echoed the finish to Super Bowl XLVII, when the Niners again opted not to run the ball when needing just a few yards to win the ultimate prize, leaving Gore—per Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area—under no illusions over what the 49ers need to do to be successful.

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[We] just got to make our mind up, do what we feel we're good at and just go do it. I still think we have a great coordinator. I still believe in our coordinator. He's been successful since he got here. As players, we just got to look at ourselves in the mirror. And whenever he makes a call, we got to go do it. I don't want to put it on him. It's also us.

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Gore may be keen to defend his coordinator and place the blame on the players, however, the lack of an offensive identity that he alluded to is something that can be attributed solely to Roman, who seems confused as to what direction he wants this offense to go in.

Given the wealth of weapons in a receiving corps that features Crabtree, Anquan Boldin, Stevie Johnson and Brandon Lloyd and a tight end in Vernon Davis who has been among the best in the game, Roman's inability to decide on a consistent game plan is perhaps understandable.

But the frustrating thing for supporters is that the 49ers' best route to victory has been obvious in two of their four victories this campaign. Indeed, the two times that Gore has put up 100-yard games, San Francisco emerged victorious against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, respectively.

Of course, balance is what all offensive coordinators in the NFL seek, and it is symmetry that Roman achieved in the Week 1 win over the Dallas Cowboys, as his offense ran an equal number of running plays and passing plays (29), per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

However, it is not something he has since been able to replicate, and with Gore held to fewer than 15 carries on four occasions in 2014, Roman's quest to get both the air and ground attack firing on all cylinders is compromising the player that gives the Niners the best chance to win.

No NFL offense wants to be one dimensional, yet Gore has been a key figure in the Niners' success over the last three seasons and has once again demonstrated this year that he still has the ability to help San Francisco control games and set up things for Kaepernick and the receivers.

Roman's failure to recognize this at the midway point at this stage of the season is extremely worrying but, as Gore pointed out, he cannot take all the blame for this unit's struggles.

Execution 

A dejected Kaepernick, per Maiocco, pointed to a lack of execution as the primary reason for the Niners' offensive struggles against the Rams.

The 49ers signal-caller took much of the responsibility for the poor performance, but neither he nor Roman can be held accountable for the bewildering form of many of Kaepernick's teammates.

It was somewhat fitting that a game featuring such poor offensive line play from the 49ers ended on a bobbled exchange from Martin because if there was one group of players that failed to execute throughout, it was the men charged with protecting Kaepernick. 

San Francisco gave up eight sacks to a team that had posted just six coming into the game in a performance made all the more surprising by the fact that the 49ers had four of its starting linemen from 2013 in the game.

Despite the considerable experience on the O-line they were never able to give Kaepernick the time to survey the field or take a deep shot, with All-Pro left-tackle Joe Staley, per Maiocco, attributing the loss to "some dumb stuff" on offense.

Staley's assessment is fair, and the problem is that the performance was in keeping with the O-line's play throughout the season, which has seen a group previously considered as one of the best in football produce subpar showings on a consistent basis.

Through Week 8 the Niners were ranked at No. 28 in pass protection by Football Outsiders and, even with the benefit of the bye week and returning veterans on the line, they have not improved in that area.

Guard Alex Boone is arguably the main culprit, having looked rusty ever since his return from what now looks an unjustified holdout. But Staley has been just as culpable, as he has given up a whopping 15 quarterback hurries and four sacks in 2014, according to PFF.

If the 49ers are to have any hope of success, then significant improvements in pass protection need to be made, although it is not just the O-line that has disappointed this season, with inconsistent hands from some of San Francisco's most trusted receivers blighting the offense's performance.

Ben Margot/Associated Press

Tight end Davis continues to find life difficult this season and has four drops on the year, per PFF, a tally second only to that of Crabtree, who has seven in 2014.

The continued strong play of Boldin and Johnson has somewhat negated the impact of Davis and Crabtree's erratic performances, but at this point it is difficult to see how Kaepernick, who is arguably having his best year as a passer, can have faith in his line or two of his once most dependable targets. 

Roman is not responsible for any of the poor execution that occurred on Sunday and has been present throughout the season. However, he could go some way to fixing those issues by returning to a run-first philosophy.

San Francisco's offensive line is built for the ground game and boasts a player in guard Mike Iupati who is ranked by PFF as the No. 2 run-blocking player at his position in the NFL. Therefore in order to restore confidence in this group, Roman would be best served by placing the emphasis back on what it does best.

Hope for the stretch 

In the preseason Harbaugh acknowledged that his team was "definitely off", and in the case of the offense that has not changed.

This is a unit whose players look out of sync with each other and whose coordinator seems unsure of his best plan of attack.

Pessimistic 49er fans could be forgiven for writing off this season and looking toward a draft in which their team could potentially benefit from a higher pick. However, sitting just a game back for the second NFC wild-card spot, hope is not lost for Harbaugh's men.

This is a team that has proven adept at bouncing back from disappointment and has already done so earlier this season, responding to the back-to-back losses to the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals with a three-game winning streak.

San Francisco can afford to have hope of doing the same again, especially considering its upcoming opponents in the next three games, which see the Niners take on the New Orleans Saints, New York Giants and Washington Redskins.

None of those contests will be easy ones for the 49ers to win, however, they all have San Francisco going up against defenses that can be exploited. The Saints and Giants are ranked at No. 20 and No. 26 in defense, respectively, while Washington in Week 9 conceded 29 points to the Minnesota Vikings and rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

With San Francisco still very much in the playoff race, it would be foolish on the part of the 49ers' organization to fire Roman before the team's postseason hopes have been ended.

But in a tight and competitive conference with plenty of high-caliber teams, it is imperative that Roman engineers a quick offensive turnaround and to do that he must establish his unit's identity going into the final eight games.

That is something that should have been done during the bye week and a failure to immediately decide on an offensive direction will likely lead to the Niners missing the playoffs for the first time in four years.

And if that scenario plays out the 49ers should waste no time in removing Roman from his post in the offseason.

All statistics courtesy of NFL.com unless otherwise stated. 

Nicholas McGee is a San Francisco 49ers Featured Columnist based in Leeds, England. Follow him on Twitter @nicholasmcgee24.